Apply for a VISA
You must apply for a visa at the nearest Japanese consulate or embassy. Bring the documents from the Ministry of Justice. It sould not take more than a few days to get your visa if you bring these documents.

Learn Japanese
While you are not required to know any Japanese to be accepted into the program. It would be very helpful in your everyday life here to know some basic Japanese. There are also several excellent resources on the web that can help you learn Japanese. The Language Education Resource on nihongo.org is a good place to start.

Bring some gifts
I didn't bring many gifts with me when I came. It is definitely a good idea to bring some gifts because Japan is pretty much a gift-giving society. Things that are unique to your country make very good gifts.