Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #128236 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 812 pages

Synopsis
the most detailed map coverage of any Japan guidebook lead author Chris Rowthorn is a long-term Kyoto resident, Japanese arts expert & sashimi buff Japan's culture & lifestyle is addictive: 38 per cent of travellers to Japan find themselves on a long-haul trip up-to-the-minute advice on getting the most out of your visit the Hamamatsu Matsuri, a spectacular traditional kite festival, turns into a kite-fight. Participants' kites battle to cut the strings of other kites, mid-flight 'Character dolls', the giant, cartoon-like statuettes that sit out the front of Japan's stores, are now being abducted in broad daylight and sold on the black market for up to USUSD3000 Japan received an honourable mention at the Pacific Asia Travel Association's 2004 Gold Awards

Customer Reviews

Kyoto section needs to give more guidance
Just returned from 2 weeks in Japan with 2 teens, using only this book. Visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. The Tokyo section we found quite good and we only got lost using its maps twice in 6 days (in Asakusa and Akihabara areas). Oddly the subway map doesn't seem to show all the stops on the Yurikamome Line (which you take to see ASIMO and other robots at Miraikan Museum). Fortunately took Tokyo City atlas with us as well.

Our main criticism is that the Kyoto section we felt underinformed us as to the most important sights in the city and we ended up missing some wonders. The orientation section at the beginning doesn't list key sights, just says it is difficult to recommend and to visit east, northwest and southwest areas! Quite a cop-out really and this left us struggling to know what to choose to visit from the vast array of temples and gardens in the limited time we had. We needed some guidance! i.e. of the type 'if you have 3 days in Kyoto do not miss'. Also there are apparently some good things for teens to do in Kyoto - the Geisha make-over studio, the Manga Museum - but we didn't hear about these from the guidebook. There is an emphasis on travelling by bus in the Kyoto section with scanty info on the tube - but we found the tube far easier to use and less confusing than the bus.

The mobile phone section buried in the back of the guide tells you how to hire a mobile but doesn't make clear that apparently UK mobiles don't work in Japan at all - unless they are 3G. So it was impossible for us all to split up and do different things during the day. We would have hired local mobiles at the airport on arrival, had we known this was essential.

Buried in the back of the book it tells you to buy your JR Pass before you go to Japan. The subsequent info given is slightly incorrect in that it tells you that the clock starts ticking on the pass as soon as you validate it in Japan. In fact you can validate it on arrival at the airport with a travel start date several days in the future.

Overall this book was fairly helpful but with incomplete info on some essential basics (mobiles, JR Pass) for a newcomer to Japan. The Kyoto section needs clear guidance on what not to miss. Sections on what to do with teenagers in the cities we visited would also be a helpful addition.

Written by teenagers, for teenagers
Having used this book in Japan as our main guidebook, we find it increasingly irritating. It has an obsession with listing all the gaijin hangouts, as if finding a pint of Guinness was the authors' main objective, but omits numerous interesting places to see.

The book is also very Tokyo-centric and - as other reviewers have noted - often takes a condescending tone when describing other places. The quality of the writing is generally quite poor. Where the authors attempt a "serious travel writing" style, they generally come unstuck pretty quickly.

Overall, the book is written in that 'we're not tourists, we're "travelers" ' style from the previous millennium and cannot be recommended to anyone over the age of 20.

Sadly only second best
We take both this Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide on our Japanese road trips, allowing us to compare them side by side. And two ARE better than one, since the authors make different choices about what to cover.

During our latest four-week visit, however, we concluded that this Lonely Planet just can't compete with its rival.

Too often, its decisions about what to emphasise and what to exclude are downright eccentric. Moreover, there is an annoying style in some regional chapters - humorous or sarcastic parenthetical comments that add no information and feel like padding.

The Rough Guide, by comparison, is more straightforward. If you can afford and have room for both, that's probably still the best option. If not, though, Lonely Planet would not be the first choice.