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The Rough Guide to Japan Fourth Edition (Rough Guide Travel Guides) Paperback – March 31, 2008

by Jan Dodd (Author), Simon Richmond (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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The Rough Guide to Japan provides invaluable advice on everything from getting there (including overland routes) to tracking down the latest and best places to sleep, eat, drink and shop. There is comprehensive coverage of all the major sights – and many off the beaten track - from the northern tip of Hokkaido down to the islands of Okinawa, closer to Taiwan than Tokyo. Full-colour sections introduce manga and anime, arguably Japan’s most successful cultural export, its rich variety of festivals and its stunning traditional gardens. All this is accompanied by in-depth coverage of Japan’s history, religions, arts, movies and music plus a discussion of environmental issues. There are maps of all the main towns and tourist destinations, together with separate colour maps of the Tokyo subway system and the rail network in Osaka.
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  1. Print length
    1056 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Rough Guides
  4. Publication date
    March 31, 2008
  5. ISBN-10
    1843539195
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1843539193
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rough Guides; 4th edition (March 31, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1056 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1843539195
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1843539193
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.52 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the author

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Simon Richmond

Simon Richmond

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Simon Richmond is a UK-based author and photographer with over 25 years of experience of developing, researching and writing travel guidebooks and other non-fiction titles for major publishers including Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, DK Eyewitness, Insight Guides and Thames & Hudson. Specialist areas include Japan (his Rough Guide to Japan won the guidebook of the year in the Travelex awards of 2000), Southeast Asia, South Africa, Russia, Eastern Europe, Australia, the UK and USA. Other major topics covered during his career include consumer affairs, personal finance, food and the arts. He has also researched and presented radio and TV programmes and created online content for websites and social media.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jolie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, with deep insight.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great guide, we packed this and planned our trip a few years back to Kyoto and Tokyo around it. Internet in Japan is everywhere, but at the same time is not accessible. I still prefer paper for travel, even I have to print it myself. We made our way from the airport Shinjuku, took the bullet train to Kyoto and back, all without a word of Japanese. The guide was insightful and the only one I packed with us. I like the rough guide series and have several of them for other countries, as well as quite a few lonely planets books / guides as well. The extra information packed in on culture and locals is worth the price, and does not ever get outdated.
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MussSyke
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2010
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A guidebook is great for reading up on culture, history, and food before you go on a trip. And I found this book to be good for just that. Japan is way too big and interesting to fit in such a small book, though. You'll find Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in depth with way too little about most other places.

Not really much else to say. It's a guidebook. Rough Guides seem to be better than LP, but slowly deteriorating as any big guidebook company will inevitably do. Too many updated versions with too few updates, but at least you get the feeling they have actually been there before.
One person found this helpful
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Michael Dragon
5.0 out of 5 stars I rather pick up a book and carry it with me and I like using the book method anyways
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2016
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Yes, I can go on the internet and scout out thousands of things to do in Japan, but honestly, I rather pick up a book and carry it with me and I like using the book method anyways, but that is me. I stayed in Japan a couple of times, and I've rough'ed up this rough guide many times over b/c it does have a wealth of information. Granted, you really can't use this book alone, but for what it is, its good.
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C. Hsu
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Leave for Japan Without This Guide
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2009
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I used this guide to plan our 2-week vacation in Japan. It provides useful historic information of locals that we were interested. What I found the most useful was the transportation guides to the locals. We never got lost. The hotel and dining info was a bit limited, but it was a good start. I highly recommend this book to people who are traveling to Japan. If you're doing a self-tour for more than a week, make sure that you get the JR Rail Pass before you head to Japan. I'll now get the rough guides for Australia and New Zealand.
2 people found this helpful
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moon
2.0 out of 5 stars I did not like this travel guide.
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013
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I did not like this travel guide. I would recommend a lonely planet over this guide. It was too thick to carry anywhere, and the pages felt like thin tissue paper. I never took this out of my hotel room and preferred my Lonely Planet for all tips and touring.
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Nomad
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide overall, although with a few significant omissions
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2009
Just came back from a memorable 6-day stay in Kyoto, and also used the book for an earlier trip to Tokyo which is far less interesting. Like most Rough Guides (I own more than 30), this book is excellent overall, with detailed descriptions, background information, and clear maps (unlike Lonely Planet, whose maps are a pain to read). Thought it was almost perfect until I researched the excellent japan-guide.com and Kyoto's official web site and realized how many sites were missing from this book. Kyoto has 17 World Heritage Sites, but 6 of them are not mentioned at all. The most glaring omission is probably the beautiful Ninna-Ji, which can be easily visited after the famous Kinkaku-Ji and Ryoan-Ji, the latter only a 10-minute walk away. Ninna-Ji is historically the favorite temple of Japanese emperors and is famous for a dense grove of late-blossoming cherry trees, so it's a must see if you've just missed the peak sakura season. Also missing is Daigo-Ji, which is easily reached on the subway and can be combined with a visit to Uji. With over 1000 cherry trees, it's probably the best temple to view cherry blossoms in Kyoto and very popular with the Japanese. The four other World Heritage Sites missing are the two Kamo shrines, Kozan-Ji and Ujigami Shrine near the Byodo-in.

Also missing from the book is Kiyamachi Street in the heart of Kyoto, probably the most beautiful street in Kyoto, at least during the sakura season. It runs along a small canal which is lined with cherry trees and crossed with little bridges, prettier and less crowded than the famous Philosopher's Path, and it's only a 1-minute walk west of the Pontocho restaurant street. The book also neglects to mention that during the sakura season, many sites (including the Kiyomizu Temple and the Nijo Castle) are open at night, which is a great time to revisit the sites as the buildings and flowering trees are beautifully lit. The Maruyama Park and the neighboring Yasaka Jinja are also open at night during this time and together host a lively night market, with lots of Japanese having hanami parties under the blossoming cherry trees. The Hirano Jinja is yet another excellent flower-viewing location that's not mentioned.

Despite all these shortcomings, I still give this book 5 stars because it does provide excellent coverage overall and there's simply no better English guidebook available. I hope the authors will read my comments and make improvements in the next edition. For those who read Japanese or Chinese characters, there's a brilliant "Kyoto Walking Map & Note" which I found at a 7-11 and was indispensable during my trip.
45 people found this helpful
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Kay's Husband
5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXCELLENT SOURCE TO ACCOMPANY THE TRAVELER
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2009
This very handy guide may be called 'rough' but at 1056 pages it is not exactly lacking pages or information. It provides 'invaluable' advice on A-Z for an enjoyable stay in Japan. And organization is one of this volume's strongest points. Anyone encountering Japan for the first time, if unorganized, will be in for not only a cultural shock but a practical time one as well. And time is money, but in Japan loss of time means you might not get to see all that you want to see. A guide such as this, with prepared planning can and will make all the difference leading to an effective visit.

Living in Japan during the years 1962 through 1964, I have come to rely on the best guides to keep me up to date with contemporary Japan. This guide will be a boon and reward to any who use it. I also rely on the Insight Guide from Discovery but believe this volume, The Rough Guide to Japan, to be equally useful to the traveler. Offering information on sleeping, eating, and shopping it also helps with maps of major towns together with color maps of the Tokyo subway system. As anyone knows whose been there, help getting around Tokyo is always welcome.

That much used phrase "don't leave home without it" might be applied here to this very useful guide. Plus from my years of residing at Kamiseya 16 km from Yokohama, the best view you might ever have of Mount Fujiyama (Mt. Fuji) may be the cover photo on this travel guide!

Semper Fi.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Stormflora
5.0 out of 5 stars Overall good book
Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
Very in-depth at first sight. Thick volume with over a thousand pages of content. Definitely helpful as a "rough guide!"
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Origami-chan
5.0 out of 5 stars Japan as it really is - Japan so, wie es wirklich ist
Reviewed in Germany on August 3, 2009
Verified Purchase
There are many tourist guide books out there and I found most of them to touch upon very "touristy" attractions of a country. This Japan guide gives a very broad and varied as well as honest overview of Japan. It includes the "obvious" sights to see but also guides you to remote and forgotten places, equally interesting and representative of the country.
Having been to Japan quite often and speaking the language on a conversational level, I can say that this book is full of tips that the locals would give you. It also covers ALL of Japan, not just the main island.
Very useful for both the first-time and returning expert traveller!

Es gibt viele Reiseführer, die nur sehrt touristische Empfehlungen über ein Land geben.
Dieses Buch bietet eine weite, ehrliche und abwechsungsreiche Übersicht über Japan. Die typischen Touristenattraktionen werden natürlich auch erwähnt, aber es gibt auch zahlreiche Sehenswürdigkeiten in verlassenen, entfernten Gegenden, die genauso schön sind und das Land repräsentieren.
Da ich schon oft in Japan war und die Grundkenntnisse der Sprache beherrsche, kann ich nur sagen, daß dieses Buch die Tipps gibt, die auch Einheimische Ihnen geben würden. Das Buch deckt dabei ganz Japan ab und nicht nur die Hauptinsel.
Es ist also ein prima Reiseführer für sowohl Ihre erste Reise nach Japan, als auch die zehnte!
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オードヴィー
5.0 out of 5 stars Lonely Planetよりも絶対にオススメ
Reviewed in Japan on March 11, 2009
Verified Purchase
日本へ旅行する人のための英語ガイドブックは多数出版されていますが、ロンリープラネットしか知らない・・という方も多いのではないでしょうか？しかし実際にロンリープラネットと比較して、本書のほうがずっと優れています。その理由は
・ロンリープラネットよりも上質な紙・見やすいフォントを使っており非常に読みやすい。
・ロンリープラネットは統一感がなくバラバラで観光地を箇条書きで列記しているだけだが、本書はどこを訪問すればいいか文章の中でガイドが話すようにかかれており、分かりやすい。本書の冒頭でも「日本で訪れるべき32箇所」を写真入りで説明しているため日本の予備知識が全く無い人にも旅程が立てやすい。
・ロンリープラネットは白人バックパッカーを読者に想定しており、チープな宿や日本人も行かないような場所が多数掲載されている一方メジャーな場所がはずされていたりするが、本書はどんな人種・社会的立場でも使えるメジャーかつ王道的な場所をきちんと掲載しており、ポイントをはずしていない。
・写真が適度に入っており、イメージがわく（ロンリープラネットは殆ど写真が無い）
・京都駅前にある京都タワー展望台に770円払って昇るよりは、京都駅１２階のSKY GARDEN（大空広場）へ行けば無料で市街の景色が見られる、などちょっとした気の利いたヒントが本文中に多数掲載されている。

と言った点でしょうか。本書は文章量が多くコラムも充実しており日本文化の勉強にもなるかと思います。文章量は少なくても良いので写真が沢山あったほうが良いという方には本書よりも「Eyewitness Travel Guide to Japan」か、「Japan (National Geographic Traveler) 」をお勧めします。
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Mr S ROWELL
4.0 out of 5 stars Useful.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2014
Verified Purchase
Purchased as a gift for a Nephew who was visiting Japan he stated it was useful. Pretty much all one can get from a teenager nowadays...
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Oleksii
4.0 out of 5 stars Perfekt für Reisevorbereitung
Reviewed in Germany on March 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
Ich habe eine ältere Fassung der Reiseführer erworben, und das merkt man natürlich, z. B. bei Renovierungsdaten oder Preisen. Wer aber zusätliche Information über Geschichte und Sehenswürdigkeiten bekommen will, findet alles hier sehr gut geschrieben. Da der Reiseführer die Information über ganz Japan enthält, ist es sehr schwer, und das ungeachtet auf sehr dünnen Papier! Für schnelle Suche nach Information während der Reise ist es eher ungeeignet, weil die Beschreibungen der einzelnen Sehenswürdigkeiten nicht stichartig, sondern wie die einzelne Erzählungen verfasst sind, und das dauert entsprechend länger, bis man das Notwendige findet.
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