Customer Reviews

Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Once you're in Japan, it's not easy to find a map book with ENGLISH for the whole country! This books has extra unexpected maps: Sight-seeing Maps, Tokyo metropolitan hiking map & Toyko Railway & subways; Osaka area rail & subway; same for Nagoya. ALSO: maps of Active Volcanoes, National Parks, World Heritage Sites, Special Scenic Spots, Historic Spots, Nature Parks, Traditionals Town & Villages, Ramsar areas, even Ceramic Kiln Areas! More than just a road map book.

You'd expect an atlas format to be large and oversized - not JAPAN ATLAS: it's the size of a regular book, which lends to easy shelving, yet it is the only one of its kind to provide place names in both English and Japanese, offering over twenty large-scale maps of Japan's various regions, 19 maps of major urban areas, and other smaller maps of roads and tourist areas. Whether it's used as a take-along tourist's tote or a library addition, it's a winner.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This compact atlas has the best set of useful maps for travel in Japan. It's lightweight, but heavy with regional maps, thematic maps, and transportation maps. It is essential if you are exploring Japan by train or bus because place names are usually written in kanji and romaji--very handy when deciphering station and directional signs. I have a more detailed atlas, but this one is much lighter. I have an older edition which is dog-eared and full of Post-It tabs on important pages, such as the train and subway maps for Tokyo. This newer edition has already gone on one trip to Japan and will be in my pack on my next one. Highly recommended!

The size was good for carrying.The words where large enough for me to read easily-I`m 65.The places that where included are good for most travel in Japan.The cover is a nice design and the train and subway map are nice to have ,so I don`t have to carry a lot of other maps.