Lol. Flashback to me having this exact conversation with a new Gaijin-kun アメリカの人 at about his second or third month in Tohoku...32 years ago. "They could just do it all in Romaji and save so much work." and even today some of my Japanese friends joke with me about how hard 漢字 can be, they laugh because they know its hard for them and admit they wouldnt do it if they had been born anywhere else.

So, it is absolutely baked in and kanji first. without kanji the following tongue twister is indecipherable.

Niwaniwaniwatori ga, uraniwanimoniwaniwatoriga iru.

庭には二羽鶏が、裏庭にも二羽鶏がいる。