Now, if you have even made it to this page, I commend you on your bravery. Most people have an ingrained fear in them about Japanese writing, and its complexity. Even I feel a little intimidated by it at times. But, friends, it really is much easier than it looks. It is more a mental battle than anything. 

Japanese writing is broken up into three parts: Hiragana, Katakana (Both known collectively as kana) and Kanji. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words that can't be expressed with kanji and particles. Katakana is used for foreign words, onomatopoeia, and for emphasis. Each symbol in Kana represent a sound, like our alphabet. Lastly, Kanji is used for the majority of words. Yes, each Kanji has a meaning, which may or may not be related to the word that it makes up.  Kanji can be a whole word, etc. This is just an overview, and remember, take your teacher or Japanese acquaintance's word more than mine.  You'll find that Kanji actually makes it easier to read. In my experience, Katakana is the hardest to read because it usually spells foreign words from many languages!!