Customer Reviews

Fodor's Japan, 18th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides)

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I used this book while stationed in Japan for 3 years, and it was great for ideas on where to go, and whether or not I could go in a weekend or needed a week or two. As with any guidebook, this one only skims the surface of what there is to see here. Even there was a whole chapter (each) dedicated to Tokyo and Kyoto, I felt that it was not nearly enough, and bought separate books for each city. I would have to say, for a short trip to Japan, this book would do fine, but for an extended stay like mine, I would find some supplements.

When I used this book, I had a hard time reading the map. The detail of the map needs to increase by a factor of 2X at minimum. Following directions coming from the map, I keep on getting lost about 40% of the time. So I had to use taxi to get to some locations or ask a local with extreme limited japanese of how to get to a place. For Akihabara district in Tokyo, the information seems a bit stale since I was not able to find a place mentioned in the book.


I like the section where it helps you how to say basic things in Japanese. Very useful when lost and asking for directions. Some history information helped me decide what sites I should see. Also the Tokyo JR/Metro map was useful.

We took this on our Japan trip and were thoroughly disappointed. Bad directions, things we could not find, we just stopped using it. An old Lonely Planet we had along saved the day.