I am not sure about Japanese, because it has an alphabet, whereas tonal languages like Mandarin, Cantonese (which is even harder) Thai, Navajo, the context or the meaning of a word can change with its tone which makes it more complex in terms of figuring out the correct translation.
If non-Japanese wish to speak Japanese, it is necessary to learn the tone or pitch for each word. In standard Japanese spoken in Tokyo and its surroundings and of course on TV and radio, “hashi” means “chopsticks” but if you change the pitch somewhat, it means “bridge.”
However, if you go to Kansai (including the second largest city of Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, etc, which constitute traditional cultural centers) this changes completely.
This confuses foreign learners of Japanese completely, so they have three choices. Learn standard Japanese as taught in language schools; learn the dialect of the area where they wish to live or dialect spoken by your partner; OR ignore it completely and hope for the best.
And yet the Japanese is not considered a tonal language.
If non-Russians wish to speak Russian, similar fate awaits the learners.
“zamok” with the accent on the first syllable means “castle” and on the second syllable means “lock.” etc
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