Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Best of Tokyo (Lonely Planet Tokyo Encounter)

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

 

 

This is a super-condensed version of the Tokyo chapter from Lonely Planet Japan with some extra info added by author Wendy Yanagihara.

I honestly cannot find any reason to recommend this book beyond its small size and fold-out color maps, although if you are going to Tokyo for a short business trip it might help. Although I like Lonely Planet's guides, this one is rather inadequate in that it spends too much time discussing Japanese culture and history and wastes too much space on big pictures instead of cramming that space with more useful information such as phone numbers, websites, and travel information (which is confined to a very small space in the back of the book). Culture and history are important things in Japan, but the amount of space given to them in this book defeats the purpose of this guide.

In other words, buy the most recent issue of the Lonely Planet Japan Guide if you're planning a trip to or employment in Japan. If you really love Tokyo above all else you can substitute the Lonely Planet Tokyo guide. Either one has plenty of information about everyone's favorite megalopolis. As for the maps, you can do without them simply by asking your hotel or the average large information desk (especially at Narita Airport) for maps of the Tokyo Metro and JR lines.

Author Yanagihara, while of Japanese ancestry, has a gee-whiz-wow attitude about everything. At times she seems to have less experience in Tokyo than the average English-language school employee. She certainly means well, but the result is a less than stellar guide - however, I get the impression her editors may be most at fault. Perhaps most unfortunate is the guide's invitation for inexperienced visitors to Japan to get lost - that is, to visit places like Kamakura, Nikko, and Fuji without providing any maps of the areas or decent advice on how to get there. There are other errors such as listing the Tokyo Monorail as the only way to access Haneda Airport, but Keikyu and Keisei Railways provide faster service to a more convenient station (Shinagawa). This should not be the case in a guide like this.

If you want a easy-to-carry guide to Tokyo, this will do. For any info beyond that, look for Lonely Planet Japan and Lonely Planet Tokyo.

Update (October 2007): I paged through the guide again recently and came upon this quote describing the Edo-Tokyo Museum:

"...this wonderful museum illustrates Tokyo's rise from the humble riverside origins of Edo (the Eastern capital) to today's fast forward futuristic metropolis."

It's bad enough that Yanagihara and (worse) her editors don't seem to know that Tokyo, not Edo, means "Eastern Capital." The fact that the main Lonely Planet Japan guide correctly describes the name means that someone at LP isn't doing the proofreading they should be, especially as Yanagihara is a contributor to the main guide. An oversight this bad ruins the credbility of "Best of Tokyo" and is a disappointing exception to LP's otherwise high quality.

I have been using Lonely Planet books for years and am surprised that it would turn out a guide as skimpy and shoddily written as this. The maps are useful, but the text's author, Wendy Yanagihara, seems to be unfamiliar with (or unable to get a sense of) Tokyo's character and its people. Yanagihara seems more bemused than informed, and one can only wonder why she was hired to write about a complex metropolis that she does not seem to understand. I agree with the reader above about the Lonely Planet Japan and Lonely Planet Tokyo guides -- both are good. I'd add another to the list: Time Out Tokyo, which surpasses anything Lonely Planet has yet produced as a guide to Tokyo.

I had no idea this book was so small until I received it, and I don't mind it at all. I have other Japan travel books by Frommer's and Fodor's so this thin book was a blessing.

Another reviewer mentioned needing a magnifying glass to read, but I can read it fine and so can my husband -- we're twenty-somethings and he wears glasses -- so I think that if you have grandchildren or existing eyesight problems then yes, it might be an issue.

For me, the bright colors behind the text were no problem. I love how colorful everything is -- EVERY page is in color. Great photos and summaries of the top "must do" attractions.

The descriptions are short to keep the size of the book down, but they list all essential info: name in english AND hiragana/kanji/katakana (really handy!), address, hours of operation, admission fees (if applicable), a URL if they have one and what train to take to what stop and even what exit to use from the station. AWESOME.

The only blemish on this otherwise amazing book is the foldout map. Mind you the map itself is helpful as heck, what with the Tokyo subway system map included, close-ups of three popular neighborhoods, every sight listed in the book listed on the map with appropriate designations (a2, d4, etc), and even helpful phrases such as "hello" and "two beers please." However, the perforation on my copy was poor and the map was glued in VERY crooked. While trying to carefully pull the map out like was intended, it pulled the cover from the back of the book. I should have just cut it with scissors in retrospect, but that was the point of the map: to pull it out easily. When I got it loose, it was difficult to pull the excess paper from the perforation. So just cut out your map out of your copy of the book and you won't have any problems!

Oh, and the super-glossy parts of the front and back covers are just slick as hell.

I recently returned from an awesome week in Tokyo, and I'm a little baffled by the negative reviews of this book. It helped me make good choices of what to see and do in Tokyo. Of course this would not suffice as your only source of information, but without it for example I would have missed out on Kichijoji and Inokashira Park, which turned out to be one of the highlights of my visit. Another reviewer said it best: "What I also liked about the Lonely Planet guide was the author's mention of the avant-garde of Tokyo for those who want to see more than just Tokyo Disneyland." If you're just taking Gray Line bus tours this is not the book for you.

My girlfriend bought this book for a recent Tokyo visit. Its a huge time waster. Maps are incomplete, way descriptions are poor (e.g. several instances where it says "its a bit hard to find. go to xyz then ask for directions" or "they have a comprehensive map on their website on how to get there" etc.) and the author has terrible taste in nightlife venues. It also misses several sightseeing/insider tips both for regular visitors (e.g. the Metropolitan Government Building Observation deck where you can see the city from above and Mount Fuji) as well as for the hipster crowd (e.g. Koenji the center of alternative youth culture).

First of all let me say that I do love this book. Next time I head to Tokyo, it will be in my bag. That said, I think the book could have gone a bit better in actually making a specific Akihabara section of the book, as it is, Akihabara is kind of mashed into the rest of Tokyo when it is a very distinct part of the town with excellent shopping opportunities. Mentioning what goes on in Akihabara on Sunday would be good too. Having a section on cheap eats would be good too, most of the places listed in the book are all higher class. Having some of the little one counter shops listed where you buy a ticket to select your meal would make it a bit more of a fun book.

I found this to be a great, compact guide with informative basic info (English name, Japanese name, description, address, hours, etc). The neighborhood map preceding each section is small but pinpoints every listing. If you're not keen at reading maps or have a good sense of direction, this book may not be for you since the author does not provide detailed directions. She does list the closet subway exit and marks the locations on the map, which was enough to get me going. The maps in the book were much better than the larger tear-out Tokyo City Map for finding exact locations. Though it's not as comprehensive as other guides, a few of the Shop, Eat, & Drink listings are unique.

Overall, this book serves well as a supplement to thicker, more detailed guides while planning itineraries, but is THE book to carry when roaming Tokyo streets. Slap on a bookcover to look less touristy; of course, that's pointless if you stand out amongst the Tokyoites regardless of what you're holding.

The sheer efficiency of the density of information in this book is its most memorable trait. It distills the conventional Lonely Planet guide for Tokyo into its most essential name, address, number, category format with the same usual glossy, pretty artwork and layout. The guide takes only the best and none of the chaffe, enabling you to have the most essential and best guidance on you in a portable format. The categorization and writing style are uniquely Lonely Planet. The artwork and sheer amount of information makes this guide worth buying versus summarizing and jotting down the same yourself from the larger Tokyo guide.

This is really a beautiful book, with lots of colorful pictures and everythig. It's very concise and small, what is really good and easy to carry.

It does not have as many information as other books, but is one of the best I've ever purchased.

I reccomend.

Though it is pocket size, it is not that helpful when you bring it with you..The map is not very clear and the information needs to be updated, such as the metro map.