I really gets you out and about the city.

The photos seem to be taken whilst running - but that helps to capture the motion of the city.

Forget dinosaurs like Lonely Planet and Rough Guides - if it is Tokyo you are in this guide is what you want. Highly Recommended.


Not for a first time visitor   February 1, 2004
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've used a dozen Time Out city guides around the world, and they are almost always reliable and informative. However, despite having this guide to show me around the city, I left Tokyo feeling much like Bill Murray at the end of 'Lost in Translation'.

'Compiled and researched by a team with other 200 years' combined experience of life in the Japanese capital' boasts the back cover of the guide, but this may be its problem rather than its strength. Although the contributors regularly emphasise the excitement and diversity of the Tokyo, they fail to bring it to life.

More frustratingly, information on the basics is weak. Perhaps it's the rigid format of the Time Out guides, with a separate 'directory' at the back, but I learnt more about public transport, tourist information centres and accessing the internet from five minutes browsing 'Lonely Planet Japan' than in many frustrating hours with this guidebook.

For example, for a first time visitor the system of addresses in Japanese is very confusing. So it's not good enough to provide not very detailed maps. How about some clearer directions rather than just mentioning which railway station to get off at? Why show some places mentioned in the text, on the map, and not others? And why having an arrow pointing in a vague direction off the map, when there is no way of finding the location? I have a degree in geography and have been to countless cities around the world, but still managed to get lost using these maps.

I can't quite put my finger on it but there was something that meant this guidebook didn't gel. It's the only time I've had that problem with a Time Out guidebook - I went straight from Tokyo to Hong Kong and had a great time with the Time Out HK guide - so if you've had good experiences with other books in the series, be warned.

As you can tell, this guidebook and I fell out. You'll notice the five star reviews come from Tokyo residents, and I have no doubt that the detailed listings are invaluable, but I would not recommend this book for a first time visitor. There must be better ones out there. Go and flick through another one in a bookshop instead. (Only kidding, Amazon editor.)


It's the details that count!   August 5, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is my third guide book for Japan. The first and second being a quick Tokyo guide, which I'd finised within a couple of weeks, and full Japan guide which you could hardly carry around with you! This guide is so easy to use and although I'd already been there 3 months when I bought it, there were still so many places to visit. The cafe and restaurant suggestions are really good modern ones and the ideas for shopping are great.

I will now use TimeOut as my main travel guide for the future - I do a lot of travelling and am so pleased I found this series!


By far the best guide to Tokyo   July 31, 2001
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

As a big fan of the first edition of this book, I bought the second as soon as it appeared. I'm pleased to say that the best guide to Tokyo has got better. Even though I have lived in this massive city for three years, this guide tells me something that I didn't know about on every page, and the clubs, drinking and dining recommendations are bang up to date and totally indispensable. I don't leave home without it. For first-time visitors, the guide provides a solid overview of what is probably the most confusing city on the planet and a massive map section makes sure you won't get (too) lost. If you're coming to Tokyo, buy it.