I've joined Judo clubs and everyone has been Japanese with very little English practice making it easy to practice and really fun. I've also seen flower arranging classes that are free, but that's not my thing.
Also local gyms have classes like boxing and joining those is a great way to meet people. I have some very funny and entertaining friends who do K-1 because I trained with them.
Another method would be Starbucks / <insert cafe name here>.
Find one that's not too busy. Then while studying ask the cafe workers questions about the Japanese. Introduce yourself first and be friendly with them and frequent the place weekly if not twice a week. You'll find they're happy to meet foreigners who are open to their culture/language and while they may practice their English on you occasionally, generally if you show you study Japanese hard, they''ll respect that and only speak Japanese with you.
I also try to only frequent restaurants that aren't chains. The oji-sans that run a small Chinese style restaurants or ramen shops are really friendly. It may be hard to understand at first, but take a notepad and they'll explain their colorful dialect. Much like anywhere else these small business owners will want your continued business and are naturally friendly and outgoing if you introduce yourself and compliment the food. Doing this at many places will help you get your introduction down pretty well
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