Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Lonely Planet Japan (Japan, 7th Ed) by Chris Rowthorn, John Ashburne, Sara Benson, Mason Florence ISBN: 0864426933 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: November, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.84
Rating: 5
Summary: great travel guide
Comment: I absolutely loved this book. I took the shinkansen (bullet train) all over Japan and so it was good guidance to visit all the cities I traveled to : Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Oita. I was able to find all the cheap places to stay and met cool people along the way. The folks who criticized the city maps do have a point. For example, I was trying to find a dumpling place in Kyoto recommended by LP but it was so hard to make out where it was in the map. I finally found it half hour later but it was worth it. You have to realize that most streets in Japan are not numbered like it is in the US so finding the exact store can be trying at times. In finding maps for a particular city, i would go to the local tourist office which gave detailed info. This is my first LP book and overall, i found it to be a very good reference.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not so good
Comment: Though I think that Lonely Planet does lovely travel guides for many places (in particular, I like their Thailand guide), they dropped the ball for the book on Japan. Their information was average, and overly disparaging of some places. Details were sorely lacking for the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, which are truly off the beaten path for most visitors to Japan and have many interesting sites/activities. The maps were also very poor, as well as the directions on how to get to places. Quite a few of us who were in Japan at the same time agreed that the Lonely Planet guide was definitely NOT the best for finding those hidden gems that Japan has within its shores. If you want a completely average and traditional tour of Japan, the Silver temple and Gold temple in Kyoto, the mania of Tokyo, and the Big Buddha in Nara, Lonely Planet suffices. But if you want any insight at all into anything off the main path, I would advise you to look elsewhere.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best one out there for do-it-yourself travelers.
Comment: I've been using travel books on Japan for 23 years, attempting to discover new & interesting places. None has completely fulfilled this quest. However, the LP book has set the standard for the others: It covers more places, has more maps, and has more information than any other. "Rough Guide" comes in second in this regard, and I find very few places in RG that aren't covered in LP. It's like the RG author's traveled around using the LP. The omissions are the same on top of that. A few examples: neither covers Fukushima, or Koriyama, both major cities that you may end up in traveling northward, and in the same area, both overlook nice areas such as Miharu town (3 Spring Town, so named for its 3 flowering trees in the spring) and Soma City (famous pottery and samurai horsemen festivals), and neither checks out Rikuchu Kaigan National Park along the Pacific Coast in Iwate. On the other hand, both LP and RG cover the small town of Tono, both not reaching the park. They both also cover the Iya Valley in central Shikoku while overlooking the most isolated Heike refuge in central Kyushu, Gokanosho. There are too many parallels between the two.
I agree there is not a consistent style throughout LP. It was written by 4 authors whose work was based on original work by Ian McQueen who burned out after 3 editions, so there is much original style mixed in with subsequent updates by the various authors through the next 4 editions. This does make some areas better than others, though, especially when it comes to locations of bus stops and "getting there" sections.
But overall, I don't see much problem with some sections having transportation and other sections not as no matter what book you get, you need to get JNTOs Railway Timetable or updated ferry or bus schedules because the train-bus-ferry schedules change from year to year, making everything obsolete quickly.
This book is also aimed at those who are traveling around using the main train routes, who want to see the big sights and maybe a few of the smaller ones. If you have a car or motorcycle, you're going to end up in places that aren't covered in any book almost every night. A smattering of Japanese is the only thing that will help this kind of traveler. It also only contains brief history and background on some areas. At times it seems to assume that you have a separate book for this information. If you want a history book, get a history book. This is a practical guide for travelers to get you to a place and into some lodging. At that it excels.
I do get annoyed with the phone number area codes only being given at the beginning of a section. With a large section, it make take a while searching for the correct page with the area code so you can dial a number. This always seems to happen in an unlit phone booth on a rainy night.
Lastly, this 7th edition is now old. I read as part of an article in the NY Times that said that Japan was getting ready to promote domestic tourism to help its economy, that someone was back in Japan trying for an update . This would help immensely as LP quotes exact prices on hotels and admissions. Anyone who has used this book recently knows that prices have gone up on most things, and down in a couple of other cases. I like the exact quote on hotel prices better than RG's range quotes, as I can get a better idea when planning a budget than just a Y5000 to Y10,000 range.
When the next edition comes out, I'll be first in line to get it, again looking for anything I've missed (and I know there's a lot as I discover every year). If you're looking for a tool to help you travel through and around a very interesting country on your own, this book is for you. If your hotels and transportation are already covered in your tour, a Frommer's guide with photos and history would work better for you.
Kentou!
 |
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 |
 |
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 |
 |
Title: Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan (Walking Guides) by Mason Florence, Craig McLachlan, Richard Ryall, Anthony Weersing, Chris Roethorn ISBN: 1864500395 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
 |
Title: Eyewitness Travel Guide to Japan by Dorling Kindersley Publishing, John Benson, DK Travel Writers ISBN: 0789455455 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: Lonely Planet Kyoto (Kyoto, 2nd Ed) by Chris Rowthorn, Mason Florence ISBN: 1740590600 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
