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Ray Bartlett

Michael Clark

Lonely Planet Japan Paperback – October 1, 2005

by Chris Rowthorn (Author), Ray Bartlett (Author), Justin Ellis (Author)

91 ratings

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Lonely Planet Japan (Country Guide)
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Complemented by easy-to use, reliable maps, helpful recommendations, authoritative background information, and up-to-date coverage of things to see and do, these popular travel guides cover in detail countries, regions, and cities around the world for travelers of every budget, along with extensive itineraries, maps with cross-referencing to the text, "Top 10" and "Top 5" lists, and other practical features.

Print length

812 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Lonely Planet
Publication date

October 1, 2005
Dimensions

5.25 x 1 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1740599241
ISBN-13

978-1740599245
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Customer reviews

5 star		42%
4 star		31%
3 star		11%
2 star		5%
1 star		11%

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S. Shapero

Competent enough

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2008

Verified Purchase

This is a perfectly fine book that give you a comprehensive overview of Japan and will help you get where you want to go. It does a decent enough job of preparing you for behaving yourself as a foreigner in this wonderful but nuanced country. I used this book on my recent trip to Hokkaido and I found coverage to be a little thin, but I think the aim of this book is to cover the major attractions and give you an overview of each region. It is a large country with a tremendous amount of cool things to see and do, which could result in a giant tome of a book. I think they could easily publish a title for each island and possibly each region, much as one might want a detailed guide book for each American state or Canadian province.

I ended up doing a lot of detailed research on the internet, copying and pasting Japanese words for things when I could, which gave better results. I managed to make an onsen reservation this way at what turned out to be Noboribetsu, a well-known area covered in the book, but at a Ryokan not found in the book. I found the accommodation listings of the book to be pretty sparse. Again, it'll get the job done but there is so much more to discover on your own. In a way this is a good thing, as discovery is one of the best parts of traveling, and many LP readers have encountered the "LP convergence zone" or "backpacker areas" of major world destinations, where you end up surrounded by a bunch of LP-reading Australians. At the end of the day, there are not a ton of english-language resources to finding the more obscure nooks and crannies of this country.

Bottom line is that this book is a useful guide that will get the job done. I did not use it for restaurant of night life recommendations, Japan is just chock a block with amazing food everywhere you go, you can pretty much just trust your instincts.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Oliver

Alert -- there is a newer edition of this book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2009

Verified Purchase

On my most recent trip to Japan I used brought the Lonely Planet Guide and the Rough Guide. The Lonely Planet Guide is better across the board. It provides better recommendations for hotels and restaurants, better and more detailed advice on sights, and far better information on logistics (how to get places, whether to take the train or a bus, etc.). The Lonely Planet Guide is easier to use and, most importantly more likely to be accurate. The Rough Guide is ok; if that is all you have, you will be fine. On the other hand, given that you have a choice, I'd go with Lonely Planet.

All that said, the Lonely Planet Guide could use improvement. The section on Hokkaido is particularly thin -- not much information. On the other hand, there does not seem to be a guidebook for Hokkaido written in English. If you hear of one, please let me know.

5 people found this helpful

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Henry H. Yamamoto

Great overall guide to Japan

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2008

Verified Purchase

Having been to Europe the last two years, I was used to using Rick Steve's guidebooks, so I needed to find an alternative for Japan. I ordered this book and picked up a copy of Frommer's Japan guidebook, but ended up taking the Lonely Planet guide with me to Japan.

As I was reading both guides the night before my trip, I realized that the Lonely Planet guide had maps of the metro for both Tokyo and Kyoto (it also had Osaka, but I didn't need that one for this trip)and the Frommer's didn't have metro maps. You can always get the maps at train stations, but there's no guarantee they will be in English.

It also called out in more detail the "local" things to do more so than the Frommer's which focused more on the must do things for tourists. If prefer to do a little of both when traveling and the Lonely Planet did a good job of covering the touristy things as well.

The main reason why I give it four stars is because of the usefulness I got out of it while in Japan. I didn't give it 5 stars because some of the info, particularly prices, were a bit dated.

I hauled this guidebook with me in my sling bag the whole 10 days of my trip and used it every few hours to find something to do or to reference directions. The information on which train/subway line to take and what station to get off at was EXTREMELY helpful. We used this info to find our way all over Tokyo and Kyoto.

There is a Tokyo specific guide Lonely Planet publishes, but most of that info is covered in the Japan guide--You do get a smaller footprint though.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Time for Lonely Planet to really work on their guide book

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2011

Verified Purchase

We love the Lonely Planet series and have traveled the world with them. Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark. I realize that it is difficult to put the whole of Japan in one guide book, but it felt like LP did not even try. Several restaurants were out of business. I can understand that change happens, but that much? The truly awful thing is the maps. They are virtually unusable. Come on, LP, there are many guide books with usable maps. You could at least make an attempt! The maps are so difficult to read, lack detail and put points on interest in the wrong place, that you better have some other way to find your way. Next time better I hope. I do not know what book would be better, but this one is definitely not the one.

One person found this helpful

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MBS

Clumsy Maps

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2011

Verified Purchase

I used this book in Japan during my recent two-week trip. The maps were very difficult to read because of their size and because they were displayed in various shades of grey. The book was almost worth buying just because it told me about the very interesting walking tour of Kagurazaka in Tokyo. There is a link to a map, but when you click that link it takes you to a bunch of maps. Paging through them you come to the relevant map, whose name is written in white letters on a grey background. There seems to be a conflict between the text and map over what the recommended route may be. I would not have found this interesting part of Tokyo without the book, but I was unable to follow the route because the map was so hard to read, and the text did not stand alone without the map.

This kind problem occurred over and over again whenever I tried to consult a map. With a real book you can keep your finger on the map while you turn back to the text. The back button will allow you to make half of this kind of trip, but there is no forward button. There is no doubt that a physical book is much easier to use. Unfortunately, there is also no doubt that a physical book is much heavier to carry.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Oli

which gets a nice balance between history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

I bought this a few years ago and had a very colourful holiday thanks to the recommendations within. I found a few places and met a few people I wouldn't have without this book, which gets a nice balance between history, culture, recommendations, and all types of activity. Best to get once a fresh edition has been released, when info is up to date and before thousands of other people have descended on the smaller, quirkier places mentioned

One person found this helpful

Pubsampler

Japan de-mystified

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought second-hand the 2007 edition for use last month in Japan (October 2013), and found it a great help. True, I did discover a few items of detail that were incorrect such as the time needed for a bus journey, but these were more than offset by the easy to read detail about the huge number places to visit. The book has a comprehensive index too. Recommended.

Amazon Customer

Great book, we are going to Japan on a ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great book, we are going to Japan on a cruise this summer so excellent as has all the islands we are visiting. Lots of lovely photos and plenty of facts and things to see and do. A lot thicker than i thought it would be so great value for money

Richard M

Bible

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Everything you need to start you off, but as with all these type of publications not the be all and end all, plenty missed out.

Simone Mathaess

Perfect Guide

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

Excellent Travel Guide, very helpful and easy to consult. A must for any trip you want to plan. Superb destination.

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Lonely Planet Japan Paperback – October 1, 2005

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