Customer Reviews

Japan: a Travel Survival Kit

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book, along with several others, including Frommers, for my trip to Japan a little over a month ago. I stayed in northern Japan--near Aomori and visited Tokyo, Sendai, Hachinohe and Morioka. Lonely Planet was helpful but, the book I used the most and relied on the most--with everything to neighborhood maps and out of the way places to eat and shop--was Rough Guide Japan. Same premise as Lonely Planet, but I found it more user friendly and it's information more beneficial. It was fun when I found a mention of a new car Toyota showroom to sit in and test drive models, and the world's only parasite museum. I didn't make it to the parasite museum in Tokyo, but the Toyota Amlux was interesting! Lonely Planet was good, but it didn't always have "mini maps" of the places they were talking about, and that left me confused. Also, they would give "circular" trips around a city, which was good, but if you didn't start out-or couldn't find-where they began, you quickly had no idea what or where they were taking you. There was plenty more in Rough Guide Japan than I found helpful in Lonely Planet, and Frommers just plain, well, sucked. It was my first trip there and the only other advice I can give is to get a rail pass as well as Rough Guide Japan!

I've used Lonely Planet before, always loved them, but this guidebook was a real pain: Half the directions were innaccurate. Sometimes the directions were so vague (and then, upon finding the ryokan or hostel, found to be patently incorrect), that I suspected the authors were writing about it several weeks after the fact. Similarly, the locations found on city maps were occasionaly obvious guesswork. Area maps didn't include kanji names or train-transfer cities, making them nearly useless. City maps were cursory, and I always got a real city map first thing I could, from the tourist board.

As always with the LP, its popularity is so widespread that its advice must be viewed with suspicion. For instance, it strongly recommended a noodle shop in Nikko. Upon going to the place (against my better judgement!) I found the LP review hanging in the window, the restaurant full of other gaijin, and unnappealing food obviously aimed at satisfying those who find Japanese cuisine weird.

It's probably still worth having the book, just because it's so comprehensive...it's bound to have a place to stay if you pull into a city at 10pm. However, for those touring Japan in detail, not just Tokyo and Kyoto, I would recommend a combination of Will Ferguson's _The Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan_ (even if not hitchhiking, he describes interesting travel routes that can be branched out of), an atlas of Japan (I used the Kodansha english/Japanese atlas, but anything with kanji place names and road&train routes is good), and JNTO pamphlets (easy to pick up) listing all hostels and various ryokans. Japan is a safe, easy, and consistently interesting country to get around in. A comprehensive book (especially one laced with inaccuracies and an obvious bent towards the cities) isn't as useful as it would be elsewhere.

When I traveled in Japan with a friend, this was the book we brought with us. Within a week we were at a foriegn language bookstore in Tokyo looking for a better one. There are some things this guide does quite well -- it helped us out finding reasonably priced places to stay throughout the country, and the advice to get a JR pass was invaluable.

However, the book has a very negative, immature view of Japan as a country and travel in general. It seems to be written by bitter expatriates with a fascination with gaijin bars and the sex trade. Did I pay $1200 for plane tickets to go drink with Americans? The authors express a bias against culturally interesting sites, ancient and modern, that borders on the anti-intellectual. The cultural notes are dated, inaccurate, and shallow. After a while, we began to think, "If Lonely Planet doesn't recommend it, it's probably interesting." The maps, as many have mentioned, are almost useless. Ironically for a series which fetishizes getting off the beaten path, it's practically useless once you get out of the main tourist areas.

There are much better guides available. This entry has sworn me off the LP series for life.

Though I think that Lonely Planet does lovely travel guides for many places (in particular, I like their Thailand guide), they dropped the ball for the book on Japan. Their information was average, and overly disparaging of some places. Details were sorely lacking for the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, which are truly off the beaten path for most visitors to Japan and have many interesting sites/activities. The maps were also very poor, as well as the directions on how to get to places. Quite a few of us who were in Japan at the same time agreed that the Lonely Planet guide was definitely NOT the best for finding those hidden gems that Japan has within its shores. If you want a completely average and traditional tour of Japan, the Silver temple and Gold temple in Kyoto, the mania of Tokyo, and the Big Buddha in Nara, Lonely Planet suffices. But if you want any insight at all into anything off the main path, I would advise you to look elsewhere.

After spending about 3 weeks in Japan with this as my only guide book, I can honestly say you NEED to buy this book before traveling to Japan. I didn't make it to Tokyo, but I did go to Kyoto and Hiroshima, and this was great for both places. It also serves as sort of a mini-travel dictionary in a pinch as well as a quick guide to cultural practices.

Just a note on how to put it to best use. I would glance through the first 25 or so pages before coming to Japan, and then read about each area you visit in more depth the day before going there. As far as using it for hotels, it's great. But I wouldn't worry too much about using it to find places to eat. You'll probably do better on your own (and have a few more adventures!).

This book is all you need to survive in Japan. Having been living in Osaka for near on 18 months I couldn't have done without the sixth edition, a clear, well written book and well categorised. Its a little bit heavy though to be honest, especially when travelling and hopping on and off trains, but that's because it covers all areas of Japan. Its worth the effort though. If you are coming to Japan for a short period of time for a holiday and just staying within one area, then its probably not for you. If you're coming to travel through Japan or to live here, then its a must.

I always buy LP series whenever I travel to Asia and Europe. I bought a previous edition and the current edition of Lonely Planet Japan over the past 4 years. It helped me get around Japan without a problem. But for those who can't speak Japanese or can't recognize kanji, this book has serious errors that might send you to a different place. An example is that in both editions they messed up the kanji vs the English for Asakusa (historical district) and Akasaka (business district). These are completely different areas of Tokyo, you're in trouble if you're showing this to a taxi driver or someone on the street. Another example is the kanji symbol for bathroom is wrong. For someone who wants to go right away, it might take you a while to find someone who can guess what you mean if you point those kanji characters at them.

Those are just a few things that I spotted so far (i only read about tokyo, nikko, and kyoto). I also don't like the restaurant recommendations in this book. First of all, if a restaurant is in this review then most likely everyone will go there. The best about japan is that you can stroll around little alleys next to skyscrapers and will run into a neighborhood restaurant that's good and cheap. the price they listed for the so-called cheap restaurants are almost doubled the price of what I can get in a big city like Tokyo. Makes me wonder if those writers actually lived there after all.

I would still use this book in Japan to get around, it's still quite informative and entertaining to read. but for those who can't speak japanese or recognize their written characters, I suggest you bring another book with you.

The 8th edition is 150 pages less than the 7th. What did they cut out? Hokkaido, Tohoku, and hotels seem to be trimmed in a lot of areas. For example, Kushiro got cut to a bare mention and Onuma National Park north of Hakodate no longer made the list. If you want to see the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi, it's still in there but you're going to have to stumble across it in a box listed under "Ainu Rennaisance." I suppose Tokyo-Kyoto is what sells so if you cut, then do it far away from these two areas.

The budget hotel listing has gotten thin, and this was the main content I liked to use. Many times, the only budget accomodation listing is the Youth Hostel. Many times there are only 1 or 2 listings after the YH, but the price is high. I know there are lots more budget options, but I also know the best lists for budget lodgings are obtained at the information center in town. Why couldn't they check out some on that list and put them in the book? You're now better off checking the web before you go or waiting until you get to the info booth near the train station to get a complete list and find something that meets your budget.

I suppose some people use the restaurant listings but I can't comment. However, I usually eat at a place that's near to wherever I am at meal time. I also like the listing of the few 'gaijin' hangouts; most of the clientele are Japanese anyway.

There are complaints on the lack of information on the banking system. It's all in this edition. My guess is a reviewer got caught out after hours and got ticked off. Banks are open until 3, M-F; you're better off checking out the Post Offices which are open until 5/6 PM. ATMs close with the bank or post office. All this is in this edition, you just have to read it. I cash enough money at one time for 3-5 days worth of hotels and expenses. Credit cards won't pull you through in this country.

The maps are either small scale or generalized. They're good for getting you to a place if not around it. I've found most of the maps in both the RG and LP very similar. The Let's Go maps are a bit better due to being bilingual, but they're the same scale. It's best if you pick up a local map upon arrival. Even some of these aren't too good either, and can leave off many smaller roads and streets. If you want a good map, I've found that I have to buy the atlas-type book for the area of interest in a bookstore or a highway rest area. There are several brands, such as "Mapple," and they are arranged by 'ken' or prefecture. Some come with both romaji (western European characters) and Japanese. You just have to page through them to see what you can read. The best are only in Japanese but they are detailed down to the traffic signals.

All in all, this guide is for the individual traveler who is traveling mostly by a JR Rail Pass. It covers more places than any other guide, and in doing such doesn't have space to give a long history, photos (Eye Witness Guides), or a long history or stories about each stop. If you need the history included in the guide, look to one of the others. The Rough Guide covers fewer places but has more of the background on each place, and is popular for this reason. If the places you're going are all covered in the RG, then use that one. If you're going to Tokyo and Kyoto, you can look to the Frommers, Fodor, or Eye Witness guides which is almost all history, culture, and pictures, or just get the LP-Tokyo guide.

This guide is for practical information: finding a hotel, getting around, and getting to the places you want to see. It's not for the "drive-only" or "tour-group" individual traveller, as the former will be everywhere that not listed in any travel book, and the information for a tour type trip is thin. It's pretty good at fulfilling it's niche except for the diminished hotel listings in the budget range. Because of the thinned hotel listings, I drop a star.

Also look at: Rough Guides Japan; Let's Go Japan; Moon Guides Japan. These are all for "on-your-own" traveling.

This Lonely Planet book is a big help when travelling in Japan. The book provides a lot of useful information (such as bus/hotel/tourist center info and general history of each tourist attraction). The best of all is that the authors put Japanese characters next to all the locations. Many Japanese tourist spots do not have names spelt in English. Therefore, the reference in Japanese characters that the authors put out is a huge plus. Also, the book is extremely helpful for people who plan to backpack and stay in the Youth Hostels in Japan. Before leaving for Japan, I read though many tourist books and found this one the best among all. The book is a bit weak in providing detailed maps but this can be overcome by visiting the tourist centers (usually next to the train stations).

lonely planet japan was my guide of choice for my journey through the country last year and i was pleased with my choice when i noted that nearly every traveler i met in the hostels relied on it as well. i found the information to be interesting and helpful, although not always accurate. (you know there's a problem with the map when it takes an hour to find the hostel with the help of your english speaking japanese friend). though i think it desperately needs an update and the maps need a lot of work, this guide is still your best choice overall and i would certainly consider buying a future addition for a return trip.