If I may add a counterpoint to that example of people learning Japanese without being able to read kanji, because while I do think it's a fair point and it's possible to learn through just listening or even just phonetic romaji (I had an old copy of Japanese for Dummies that had NO kana whatsoever)...
The translator guy sounds similar to people I knew who learned a language purely by hearing it (like in the case of my friends who had family members who spoke Italian, Spanish, Slovak etc) (There's a lot of Japanese people living in Brazil, so makes sense he could've learned through immersion).
But many of the people I know who grew up hearing another language in bilingual homes, felt like they only learned "half" the language (They can understand it when spoken, but may struggle to speak it themselves, or read it written down) and regret not learning more of the language or feel embarassed. Not everyone will, but the people I've talked to do.
In the the second example, the actress has to have special materials made for them...which may not always be provided. Same with phone access. I think it's great people have options if they need them but...it's still not ideal and I wouldn't want to put myself in that situation on purpose if avoidable.
But secondly, I do think it could potentially make studying way harder. Yes, kanji itself can be hard...but one will hit a LOT of roadblocks learning Japanese (especially if through self study) if they can't read the materials from which to learn. Sure it could depend on the material...but, it'll limit you. It's one thing to grow up speaking Japanese and learn it naturally, and another thing to have to study it.
Sure, there are tools that can be used to read kanji in-browser online (yomitan for example)...but one wouldn't be able to learn through immersion from playing video games (Which may not let you pause to translate), or understand video subtitles for example. Not to mention how google translations are not always accurate.
It also limits how you can use the Japanese you spent so long learning, if you plan to try online communication (sure, you could write it in kana or with the kanji prediction...but would other people understand if you don't use kanji or use the wrong one?)
Again it depends on the level you want to reach. If you just want to learn a little, enough to get around a trip, then yeah you probably don't have to consider kanji besides some essentials!
But I genuinely think it's harder to learn Japanese beyond a beginner level if you aren't learning to read it, unless you're in a situation where you have native speakers around you (like the examples given earlier)
And if you do want to go learn more, but kanji really is too intimidating, enough you feel it's stopping you from learning...keep in mind that you can go as slow as you want! Learn just one a week, learn the most common ones you see, watch a video that explains one at a time, learn just the basics and see how far you get! Try kanji learning games, etc!
