It is definitely worth a visit for anyone into games, or anime, or electronics, or just people watching. I'll be down there myself this weekend for some arcade parts and computer parts.
Believe it or not you can get by pretty well without much Japanese as a tourist, though a translator is a help. My first visit some 6 or 7 years ago I didn't know any Japanese but "arigatou" and knew nobody, but I spent 3 weeks by myself sightseeing, shopping, etc and loved it.
There aren't any good English websites that I know of for local stores. The cheapest bet for an overseas person is to find a good importer -- there's a couple of threads in import-mania about recommended online merchants!
Oh, Japan's a pretty poor place to buy a region free player, actually -- they're cheaper in the States