Product Description

The Rough Guide to Japan provides invaluable advice on everything from getting there (including overland routes) to tracking down the latest and best places to sleep, eat, drink and shop. There is comprehensive coverage of all the major sights – and many off the beaten track - from the northern tip of Hokkaido down to the islands of Okinawa, closer to Taiwan than Tokyo. Full-colour sections introduce manga and anime, arguably Japan’s most successful cultural export, its rich variety of festivals and its stunning traditional gardens. All this is accompanied by in-depth coverage of Japan’s history, religions, arts, movies and music plus a discussion of environmental issues. There are maps of all the main towns and tourist destinations, together with separate colour maps of the Tokyo subway system and the rail network in Osaka.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93365 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1056 pages

About the Author
Various authors

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
On a two week holiday to Japan, bought this and another major guide at the airport, hot off the press. Many aspects are disappointing, for example, the guide is organised by theme, and not by area. I'm staying in Shinjuku, if i want to look up accommodation, that's on page 117, but if you want a map, that's 40 pages away o p150, and somewhere to go out, try page 180, and the sights? flip back 30 pages or so... I think you get the idea. Does it have a handy index? No. A cross reference? No. The maps, which I thought were okay when I flicked through it at the airport, aren't that detailed. When being a tourist giving clear directions and landmarks is crucial. The book is more of a description than a guide, so sometimes you're stuck as to what is a really big deal and what isn't. Another example would be that I read one part of the guide, but didn't realised until half way through that it was describing a castle, whereas I think it should have said "This is a great castle!" at the start! I'm really disappointed. One week in, I'm giving up on the Rough Guide.

Dishonest, and downright dangerous!
I could start by listing the inaccuracies, of this horrendously misleading book, in regard to the town where I live - Yokohama, and mention that they claim Yokohama (baseball) stadium was the venue of the 2002 (soccer) world cup. It would be a fair barometer of the slapdash, and thoughtless way this book is written. But I have an even bigger beef.

This week I took a short break in Nikko, in the mountains above Tokyo. My decision to take the (very) Rough Guide with me could have cost me my life. Following the instructions, in visiting Lake Chuzenji, for a nice stroll, I got off the bus "one stop early to walk up the hill for 1.5 km and enjoy the views".

The "1.5 km walk" was a perilous five and a half hour scramble, hike and crawl, of several miles, over no longer existent mountain paths, washed away, in the most part. Many paths that did still exist gave way under me, leaving me holding onto tree roots, for dear life, over drops of several hundred feet. At one point, I wrote a goodbye message, and two or three times, I considered calling mountain rescue. Thank god it didn't rain, or I don't think I'd have survived. I started my "1.5 km walk" just after 9am, and finished just before 3pm, with a pulled right calf, sprained left ankle, lucky to be alive. At no point in those five hours or so did I see another human being. Only a "rough, rough guide" book owner would have been foolish enough to be on that pathless and perilous mountain.

The publishers of this deceptive and dangerous book have to be taken to task. No matter that they say Nikko's Gusto restaurant serves beer (not true) or that The Shrine of Tosho Gu means "sunlight" (again, not true), the misleading information about lake Chuzenji could result in some poor unsuspecting day tripper dying, on the slopes of a rugged and dangerous mountain. In fact, several stories have been in the news, recently, about people trapped, or perishing, in the wilderness - seriously, rescuers should check the backpacks of these poor souls, to see if they were carry a "rough guide".

If you value your safety, DO NOT buy this horrible book! And stay on the bus, ALL the way to Lake Chuzenji!

planning trip
i just received the guide, after having some problems with the shipping, but i am satisfied on how amazon solved the problems.
i started reading the guide, trying to organize my journey and it seems to be complete and well written.