If you study on your own, you can get away with never having to learn how to read the characters. But if you end up really liking the language, your natural curiosity will encourage you to study how to read and write in Japanese.
I'm at the high beginner level in Japanese, and I was able to travel by myself throughout that country without too many problems because many of the train station signs were bilingual, both in Japanese and English. However, if I were to visit that country again, I would be sure to memorize how to read the names of common places such as "temple," "hotel," and other designations important to tourists.
