Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide [Paperback]

Kodansha International (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2006

The only atlas of its kind to feature place-names in both English and Japanese, Kodansha's perennial favorite has been newly revised to reflect the many changes that have resulted from the government's policy of consolidating Japanese cities, towns and villages. The volume includes:
-- 21 large-scale maps of the regions of Japan, including Greater Tokyo and the Kanto area, the Greater Osaka area, and almost all of the officially registered Japanese municipalities;
-- 10 maps of the major metropolitan areas, from Naha in Okinawa to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tsukuba, Sapporo and many others;
-- 7 maps featuring notable tourist and resort areas, including Fuji-Hakone, Nara, Kamakura, Nikko, etc.;
-- 9 transportation maps, including road and intercity railway maps, Tokyo and Osaka subway and rail maps, and major domestic airline routes;
-- 12 thematic maps indicating national parks, historic spots, ceramic kiln areas and more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Atsushi Umeda is a Kodansha author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International; Bilingual edition (July 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770030266
• ISBN-13: 978-4770030269
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of maps., August 9, 2006

By 

Asoka20912 "Asoka" (Takoma Park,, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide (Paperback)

When I ordered this book, I was expecting a more traditional atlas, with geographic information, etc., but this is simply a collection of maps. there is no explanatory text. But there is a table of contents and an index.

There are 5 sections: Area Maps; City Maps; Sight-Seeing Maps; Transportation Maps; and Thematic Maps. The area, city, and transportation maps are self-explanatory, but the reader could have trouble figuring out what is in the other sections. For example, the sight-seeing maps have lots of places indicaed in red, but there is no indiccaion of just why they are noteworthy. In the thematic maps, several of the themes may not be apparent. For example, I was baffled by the map labeled "Ramsar Convention Area Areas and had to do a Google seaqrch to figure it out. There are also some basic typos in English that aven a novice copy editor should have caught. "Marchent homes" for "merchent homes," or "histric" for "historic."

In all, though, if you want a handy,very portable map collection , with place names in romaji and kana/kanji, then this is worth getting.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable for travelling in Japan outside the major cities, January 18, 2008

By 

Art Chandler (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide (Paperback)

I have found this atlas so useful that I have four well-worn copies, including earlier editions. Although surprisingly comprehensive, it is also small enough to carry everywhere without beginning to resent its size or weight. I have also found that the book seems nearly indestructible: no page has ever separated from the binding even with my most-used copy -- which otherwise looks like it has been through hell. Maps or atlases without kanji and kana would be frustrating to use and in many cases would be nearly worthless, yet I have found nothing similar to this volume. It appears to stand alone. Anyone travelling outside Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto really must have this book. Someone hiking or cycling needs to also purchase detailed road maps or topographic maps of the appropriate area, although those maps will almost certainly have only kanji and kana. Fortunately, the detail maps can be found within the book department of almost any department store at any major train station.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat useful, March 28, 2007

By 

E. Christiansen "Gradtraveler" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide (Paperback)

It's great to have maps with both Kanji and Roman alphabets. That is very useful for navigating in Japan when one doesn't read Japanese. But the maps are small and not detailed enough to be used by cyclists, which was my hope when I purchased this atlas. It does have some subway maps at the back, which are practical. I think this atlas has to be used with a more detailed Japanese-language atlas to be really useful to anyone (cyclists or drivers) interested in using roads smaller than the major highways.