Eyewitness Travel Guide to Japan (Paperback)

~ DK Publishing (Author), DK Travel Writers (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...considered to be the world's best travel resource to over 30 destinations around the world, make it easier to plan a splendid vacation. -- North American Press Syndication

Both novice and experienced travelers will be captivated. -- U.S. News & World Report

Each book is a visual as well as informational feast about a particular place. -- The New York Times

Encyclopedic in scope, it's meant to be used before, during, and after your stay. -- Travel & Leisure

The best travel guides ever. -- Sky Magazine

The most graphically exciting and visually pleasing series on the market. -- Chicago Tribune

This is a guidebook series that always seems to inspire smiles...You feel, looking at them, as if you could close the book and step into the street. -- Contra Costa Times

With titles covering Paris, Prague, and London, these pocket-sized guides are like a Michelangelo fresco: deliriously rich in detail. -- People Magazine

Product Description

The guide that shows you what other travel books only tell you!

If you are planning a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, make sure you don't leave home without DK's Eyewitness Travel Guide: Japan. All aspects of modern Japan, as well as its history, art and ancient traditions are explained through informative text and spectacular photographs and illustrations. Learn about Japanese history and culture, and experience the exotic cuisine and entertainment. Over 800 full-color photographs, street-by-street maps, and aerial 3-D cutaways highlight all of Japan's major attractions. Japan's enormous variety in landscape (from near arctic in the north to sub-tropical in the south) comes to life like no other guide. Whether in Tokyo, Kyoto, Okinawa, Honshu, or Hokkaido this is the ultimate resource for all points of interest.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: DK Travel; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789455455
• ISBN-13: 978-0789455451
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #699,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-catching guide is a worthy investment, July 26, 2003

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is sort of a "Japan! Wow!" type of guide, full of eye-popping graphics and catchy factoids. It is a very fun guide, and does a great job of engaging enthusiasm for Japan and its wonders. The makers definitely know their audience, and all of the weird and wild parts of the country and its culture are captured.

Nothing off the beaten path here, only the major attractions of each city/region are represented. It is wide but not deep. Pricing information and such is well done, and gives an accurate picture of what to expect. Tidbits of culture and history help explain what you will be seeing and make for interesting overall reading.

Even as someone living in Japan, I find this guide to be valuable and fun. It has sparked my interests in several sites and is a great reminder of places that I have been.

For a deeper travel guide, I recommend "Gateway to Japan." That combined with "Exploring Japan" should be all you need to plan a snazzy and enjoyable trip.

102 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing DK guide, December 31, 2001

By	Lydia Musher - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Until recently, I was a devoted fan of the Eyewitness Guide series. (My bookshelf holds their travel guides to France, Bali, South Africa, and even some US cities among others.) However, my recent trip to Kyoto and Tokyo proved too much for the series and I thought other travelers deserved a warning.

The Eyewitness Japan volume is an interesting cultural introduction, but a woefully insufficient travel guide to this complex country, even for a very short trip such as the one I took. Some thoughts:

(1) The maps (particularly outside of Tokyo) are not at all comprehensive. It would not be possible to find one's way around Kyoto, for example, without another guidebook. There is a high-level overview map of Kyoto (without most streets marked) and some cut-away maps of particular tiny areas, but you could not piece together one usable city map out of it.

(2) The phrasebook is only four pages long and doesn't contain some of the most basic and useful information. Example: It doesn't contain the word for "cash machine," and Japan appears to be a heavily cash-oriented country.

(3) The hotel information is wholly insufficient. It lists few hotels and then gives only one short sentence about each hotel. It doesn't make any suggestions as to which neighborhoods would be better to stay in, either.

(4) The greatest strength of the book is in its cultural information and its visuals. For example, after finding the Kyoto "philosopher's walk" on a map in another guidebook, we were able to learn from the Eyewitness book why it was named the philosopher's walk and some interesting (but not particularly practical) facts about the walk. However, here again there is a hidden weakness: unlike other guidebooks, the Eyewitness book doesn't seem to take a stand on which sites are worth seeing in limited time.

In such a complex country (particularly if, like me, you do not speak Japanese), you need a more comprehensive and more opinionated guide. All in all, in terms of survival and travel enjoyment, you're better off with the other travel books we had with us: Lonely Planet Japan (which has great opinions on what to visit) and Time Out Tokyo. I also recommend the Berlitz phrasebook on Japanese to get around; it's small and contains lots of useful phrases, although sometimes in strange places. Also, if you're leaving Tokyo, don't forget the bilingual maps.

Happy traveling!
Lydia

PS: This particular Eyewitness book (perhaps I'd missed this on other trips) seems oriented towards the high-end, perhaps business, traveler. Whereas the eyewitness guide described a particular Tokyo ryokan as having a convivival lounge area that encouraged travelers to meet people, exchange stories, and strategize about their travels, Eyewitness would describe a particular ryokan as not having a particularly nice view. Perhaps that's something to keep in mind, depending on your interests.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book..., June 5, 2002

By A Customer

Having travelled to Japan on two occassions (once as an exchange student and once travelling throughout the country alone), I was have mixed feelings about this book.

Although the book is very well designed and has beautiful pictures (it is nice to show to guests who don't know about Japan), some of the most interesting things are skimmed over (for example Arashiyama in Kyoto has only a short description). I was also very disappointed when I visited Osaka-Castle, as the inside was very much like a museum, and I had expected the reconstruction to have replicas of the original interior decoration. The travel guide did not explain that the interior is completely modernized.

The other problem is that some of the rural areas - Toyama and Akita for example weren't really covered.

Nonetheless, there is no better travel guide of Japan on the market (at least designed for English speakers.) There is also coverage of the Ken-rokuen and the various temples.

Although I think the book is well worth the money, I would also recommend that anyone with Japanese language skills check out the area specific guidebooks designed for Japanese travellers to supplement the information in the book (there are many excellent magazine style ones on large cities such as Kyoto), and ask friends and acquantiances before travelling to spots far from where you are staying.