Quote Originally Posted by GaijinPunch
Can one that speaks/reads Japanese make that call? I can't, b/c I already had a few years of university under my belt before arriving so could at least communicate, but all my friends that have visited have complained about it being English-unfriendly -- not even comprable to most places in Europe.

THe signs... yeah, sure. The people? I'd say not.
If we're just talking about the signs Maciamo posted a link to in his post, I'd say they're appallingly poor specimens for supporting his contention. Almost without exception the English on the signs serves no functional purpose whatsoever, being nothing more than decoration on the signs. The functional meaning is conveyed by images, context, sign placement, etc.