Perhaps one of the great joys of being in Japan is sampling the wealth of cuilinary delights on offer. But the Guide seems to list (especially in Tokyo) many Western-based food outlets. Yet the Guide also provides the statistic of 60,000 restaurants existing in Tokyo, compared to a tenth of that in New York, and less in London. Yet very few Japanese Restaurants are listed. Of course, there are language difficulties for guijin (foreigners) ordering from a Japanese restaurant, but it is not an impossible prospect (by the way, if you get a chance to try Horse-meat sashimi (I`m serious!), put back your reservations and try it - very delicious).

The Guide`s summarised coverage of a country`s history is usually a concise and precise affair, and this book is no exception. But I felt where some of the important historical sights were mentioned inside the book, that the authors seemed to skip over some of the details. Now obviously Japan has such a huge cultural diversity that it would be impractical to list the finer details of every historical site. and I also believe that there is something to be said for discovering facts for yourself, but I write this synopsis based on the other Rough Guides I have used, and the coverage of, say Spain, shows a lot more depth.

What I have no qualms in stating is that the index is apalling. No use whatsoever.

Rough Guide have published a Rough Guide to Tokyo (which I have not purchased for this trip), and I feel that they should perhaps split the whole of Japan into separate books to allow more coverage.

Rough Guide will always be my book of choice for travel, and I would recommend the series to anyone. I still recommend the Rough Guide to Japan, (it still knocks socks of Lonely Plant) but I advise anyone going to Japan to use several sources of information to ensure that you enjoy this wonderful country to its fullest.


A new resident in Japan finds this invaluable   December 9, 1999
 17 out of 17 found this review helpful

In the past I have found it both a bonus and a sadness that the excellent Rough Guide books do not seem to be well known outside of Britain. It is sad because their books are generally excellent - not only are there guides to destinations but a superb Rough Guide to World Music,guides and CDs on different world music types, a guide to world cinema, to the millennium, etc- but it is a bonus also because when you are travelling you don`t find yourself drawn to the same places as all those other Lonely Planet and Fodors users.

This is not simply because of their users rarity, but because the coverage seems to be so much more in depth. I have just moved to Japan and in my first 6 months here I have been as much a tourist as a resident and a travel guide has been useful. What I do now have though is a local knowledge of my part of Japan (Southern Kyushu) that goes beyond a travel guide so I think I have a good perspective on guides` coverage of this part of Japan.

I have to say that Lonely Planet is a little too trendy for its own good. It seems its coverage of the big cities is pretty much spot on, but get beyond the suburbs and it starts to become scanty. Rough Guide on the other hand maybe fails a little in the cities, but comes up trumps in the `real` areas of Japan.

I live in one of the more remote, traditional and frankly bizarre areas in Japan (Kagoshima) but LP has hardly any coverage of this area. A good example of Rough Guide`s superiority is its entry on an Island near me called Yakushima. It has been declared a world heritage site because of the `Land That Time Forgot` style rain forests and cedar trees several thousands of years old. LP has only a single paragraph while RG stretches to a few pages with travel and accomodation hints.

I can not comment on RGs coverage of the rest of Japan, but I know that for Kyushu it is the best guide. I really appreciate RGs straight forward, unpretencious and holistic style (buy the RG to Japanese Music CD- weird and wonderful); I recommend you give it a try.