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Title: Time Out Tokyo (Time Out Guides) by Penguin Books ISBN: 0-14-101352-4 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Get Lost With Time Out Tokyo
Comment: By: Susan Benton
Moments before embarking on a last-minute trip to Tokyo, I stopped in a bookstore in LAX in search of a guidebook on the city. I found only two: an overview of Japan (which was extraneous for this trip) and Time Out Tokyo. I purchased the latter, and was on my way.
I read the book cover to cover on the flight over. I felt well versed on many areas of the city and comfortable with choosing a path for my weeklong trip. Despite the author's ubiquitous sarcastic and often pessimistic tone, I was hoping to find fun and excitement in at least a couple of areas of the city.
Once there, however, I found I had to rely on other sources besides Time Out for some very important "touristy" information. While I realize it's impossible to include everything in one guidebook, there are certain things that, I feel, would've been extremely helpful to include in Time Out - which would elevate it from a "four star" nice-to-have to a "five star" must-have travel resource.
Case in point: there is no map of the train lines. There's a map of the subway system, and one of the Yamanote loop, but not one of the Yamanote connecting lines that run throughout the city - more or less, the backbone of the Tokyo train system (and my primary mode of transportation while there). I had to rely on a separate train line book for this information. Seems silly, when this information would have been easy enough to include in Time Out.
Also, there are suggested supplemental trips from Tokyo (further than one hour away) and, although there are general directions on getting there, there are no maps for the areas once you arrive.
What's more (astonishingly enough) - there is no comprehensive map of Tokyo, beyond the cluttered, blurry subway map and localized - very general, detail defunct - area maps. This would have been extremely helpful to have on more than one occasion. In fact, it should've been on the first page of the book.
I would have liked to see a larger section dedicated to Kichijoji - one of the cooler, livelier areas I visited during my stay. There is only a slight mention of it.
I would have also liked to see the Japanese characters accompanying some of the descriptions - especially for some of the more obscure areas (as you get further outside of Tokyo, the signs all switch from Romanji to characters).
Something else that would've been great is a general "tips and tricks" list for navigating around the city and understanding the culture.
Examples of tips might include:
-Walk/drive to the left!
-Plan to buy N'EX high-speed train tickets a day in advance and a half hour to one hour earlier than you would like to arrive at the airport, in case of delays (which I experienced)
-Note that some temples/shrines charge exorbitant rates, while other - equally impressive temples - are next-to-nothing or free.
-Although there is a brief section on ATMs more information should have been included regarding getting money once you're there. For instance, the CitiBank across the street from Shinjuku station takes American bank cards. The best advice: save yourself the hassle, exchange your money before you leave. (This was mentioned early in the book).
-Tips on traditional Japanese etiquette. Praying and showing respect at temples, shrines (eg. donations, washing hands, general information on ceremonies that may be taking place. Are you being disrespectful if you join, watch, speak, etc.?) Also, eating on the trains is frowned upon - as I found out the hard way.
Although the sarcastic tone of Time Out left me feeling as though the authors had no love for Tokyo, or Japan for that matter, I did find the book somewhat helpful - offering interesting, sometimes quirky tidbits on the city and culture. Who knew Excelsior Coffee had to change their green to blue because Starbucks threatened to sue? And, although I didn't make any visits to the love hotels, the section on how I could've was truly enlightening. And thank God for the section on how to use the non-Western toilets. I'd have been lost for sure.
If you're planning a trip to Tokyo and you don't mind buying a map, book of the connecting train lines and doing a bit of research on your own regarding other cool things to do, then you'll be satisfied with the supplemental information Time Out Tokyo provides.
Rating: 4
Summary: Get Lost With Time Out Tokyo
Comment: Moments before embarking on a last-minute trip to Tokyo, I stopped in a bookstore in LAX in search of a guidebook on the city. I found only two: an overview of Japan (which was extraneous for this trip) and Time Out Tokyo. I purchased the latter, and was on my way.
I read the book cover to cover on the flight over. I felt well-versed on many areas of the city and comfortable with choosing a path for my week-long trip. Despite the author's ubiquitous sarcastic and often pessimistic tone, I was hoping to find fun and excitement in at least a couple of areas of the city.
Once there, however, I found I had to rely on other sources besides Time Out for some very important "touristy" information. While I realize it's impossible to include everything in one guidebook, there are certain things that would've been extremely helpful to include in Time Out ' which, in my mind, would elevate it from a '4 star' nice-to-have to a '5 star must-have travel resource.
For instance: a map of the train lines. There is a map of the subway system, and one of the Yamanote loop, but not one of the Yamanote connecting lines that run throughout the city ' more or less, the backbone of the Tokyo train system (and my primary mode of transportation while there). I had to rely on a separate train line book for this information. Seems silly, when this information would have been easy enough to include in Time Out.
Also, there are suggested supplemental trips from Tokyo (further than one hour away) and, although there are general directions on 'getting there,' there are no maps for the areas.
What's more (something I couldn't believe) is that there is no comprehensive map of Tokyo, beyond the cluttered, blurry subway map and localized - very general - area maps. This would have been *extremely* helpful to have on more than one occasion. This should've been on the first page of the book.
I would have liked to see a larger section dedicated to Kichijoji - one of the cooler, more lively areas I visited during my stay. There is only a slight mention of it.
I would have also liked to have seen the Japanese characters accompanying some of the descriptions ' especially for some of the more obscure areas (as you get further outside of Tokyo, the signs all switch from Romanji to characters).
Something else that would've been great is a general "tips and tricks" list for navigating around the city and understanding the culture.
Examples of tips might include:
-Walk/drive to the left.
-Plan to buy N'EX tickets a day in advance and a half hour to one hour earlier
than you would like to arrive at the airport, in case of delays (which I had)
-Note that some temples/shrines charge exorbitant rates, while other-equally
impressive temples-are next to nothing or free.
-Although there is a brief section on ATMs more information should be included regarding getting money once you're
there. For instance, the CitiBank across the street from Shinjuku station takes
American cards. The best advice: save yourself the hassle, exchange your money
before you leave the States.
-Tips on general Japanese etiquette. Praying and showing respect at temples,
shrines (ie. donations, washing hands, general information on ceremonies
that may be taking place. Are you being disrespectful if you join, watch, speak,
etc.?) Also, eating on the trains is frowned upon - as I found out the hard way.
-Advice on how to operate the ticket machines and adjusting fares in the train stations would be great!
Although the sarcastic tone often left me feeling as though the authors had no love for Tokyo, I did find the book helpful in many ways - offering interesting, sometimes quirky tidbits on the city and culture. Who knew Excelsior Coffee had to change their green to blue because Starbucks threatened to sue? And, although I didn't check into any love hotels, the section on how I could've, was truly enlightening. And thank God for the section on how to use the "non-Western" toilets. I'd have been lost for sure.
If you're planning a trip to Tokyo and you don't mind buying a detailed map, train line book and doing a bit of research on your own regarding other cool things to do, then you'll be satisfied with the supplemental information Time Out Tokyo provides.
Rating: 2
Summary: Buy the Rough Guide to Japan Instead
Comment: I recently visited Tokyo and brought both the TO Tokyo Guide (2nd Ed., 2001) and the Rough Guide to Japan (2001 Edition). Ultimately I found the Rough Guide to be much more usable, and most days I left the TO guide in my hotel room. Why?
The main reason is that the maps in the TO guide are close to useless:
1. The maps do not show where North is (each map is different), so orienting oneself, on exiting a subway station say, is hard.
2. The maps do not have a scale so it is not possible to judge distances.
3. There is no overall map showing the relative placement of the detailed maps. The Tokyo Overview map on p.288 is wholly inadequate.
4. The map keys and text do not also show the Japanese characters for names of places, so finding restaurants and so on is a matter of guesswork.
5. The subway map looks like it is a low quality scan, and is not particularly legible as a result.
6. Many places mentioned in the text are not shown on the maps despite the assertion on the back cover ("32 pages of color maps annotated with EVERY entry in the guide"). For example, in the Harajuku section (p.59) the following places are not on the map: Cafe Vasy, Elephant Cafe, Give Life, News Deli, Perbacco, Pizza Express, Red Pepper, Will V; and that's just in a two page section of the guide.
The Rough Guide does not suffer from any of these deficiencies, which unfortunately outweigh any advantages other parts of the TO guide may have.
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Title: Lonely Planet Tokyo (Tokyo, 4th Ed) by John Ashburne, Chris Rowthorn ISBN: 1740590597 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Lonely Planet Japan (Lonely Planet. Japan, 8th Ed) by Chris Rowthorne, Andrew Bender, John Ashburne, Sara Benson, David Atkinson, Craig McLachlan ISBN: 1740591623 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.99 |
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Title: Tokyo City Atlas: A Bilingual Guide by Kodansha International ISBN: 4770028091 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook (Japanese Phrasebook, Ed 3) by Kam Y. Lau, Yoshi Abe ISBN: 086442616X Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Little Adventures in Tokyo : 39 Thrills for the Urban Explorer by Rick Kennedy ISBN: 1880656345 Publisher: Stone Bridge Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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