Japan (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
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The guide that shows you what other travel books only tell you!
If you are planning a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, make sure you don't leave home without DK's Eyewitness Travel Guide: Japan. All aspects of modern Japan, as well as its history, art and ancient traditions are explained through informative text and spectacular photographs and illustrations. Learn about Japanese history and culture, and experience the exotic cuisine and entertainment. Over 800 full-color photographs, street-by-street maps, and aerial 3-D cutaways highlight all of Japan's major attractions. Japan's enormous variety in landscape (from near arctic in the north to sub-tropical in the south) comes to life like no other guide. Whether in Tokyo, Kyoto, Okinawa, Honshu, or Hokkaido this is the ultimate resource for all points of interest.
DESCRIPTION:
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 915
EAN: 9780756628765
ISBN: 0756628768
Label: DK Travel
Manufacturer: DK Travel
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: 2007-08-20
Publisher: DK Travel
Studio: DK Travel
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• Japanese (Eyewitness Travel Guide Phrase Books)
• Frommer's Japan (Frommer's Complete)
• The Rough Guide to Japan Fourth Edition (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
• Japan (Country Guide)
• Etiquette Guide to Japan: Know the Rules that Make the Difference!
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Japan
Comment: Like all Eyewitness guides it gives a good overview of the country and culture,together with detailed description and pictures of the main sites.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Comment: I have always liked DK's Eyewitness series of travel books, and "Japan" is consistent with their past quality. Chockful with useful information, and wonderful photographs. I particularly like their suggested "walks" amd maps. I do not use it for hotel selection and local travel details, but more for sightseeing information, cultural information, food, and such.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Visual Delights to Enchant the Traveler to Japan
Comment: I work as a specialized travel planner for travel to Japan and use this guide as a complement to the materials that I send to my clients. Why? Because the guide is great for pictures, general descriptions, diagrams and for giving a very brief flavor of a place and works very well when in conjunction with detailed instructions. I suggest treating it as a "McGuide" - it satisfies the immediate need for a bit of information while you're on the road. On the other hand, I would never recommend this guide as the only guide to take to Japan if you're doing serious travel planning while on the road, since there's just not enough hard information to make critical decisions on what to see and do on any given day. Many other reviewers have pointed out that there are few suggestions, no prioritization and not much "how to". On my last trip to Japan we used it as a quick guide on what to see in the smaller places and then relied on the ubiquitous tourist board stands to get information on specifics (maps, flyers, etc.). For example, in Hakone it mentions the "circuit", but doesn't give enough information to know how to actually do it. We had to gather that information from our hotel and our Hakone Free Pass paperwork. This guide also omits some places that western travelers might find interesting, such as the art installations at Benesse House on Naoshima Island or Karatsu on Kyushu Island. The very best things about this guide: short tours (such as Kiso Valley or Saga Pottery area) detailed diagrams (such as the Gassho-zukuri houses and Toshu-gu Shrine in Nikko) and lots and lots of photos on the same page as the descriptions. Oh, and it's also a great guide if you can pre-plan your trip and don't want to spend your entire vacation with your nose in a book reading rather than experiencing the place. Japan is such a fabulous place to engage with the culture and this book can help you make the leap from reading/observing to engaging by taking away the reams and reams of text found in other books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Combine with internet research for comprehensive trip planning
Comment: I'm not normally a fan of Eyewitness travel guides. Yes, it's nice to have pictures, but they come at the expense of information and the heavy paper required to show them off to full advantage makes these books too heavy to take on vacation (in my opinion). I've also seen pictures that looked oh-so-compelling in an Eyewitness Guide, but they turned out to be of the one attractive thing in an otherwise drab, dirty city. Yet there are things to like about these guides and this one is no exception.
Unlike other guides you can get an idea of what places and attractions look like, which is especially helpful in a country like Japan, which has about a bajillion Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Reading about them alone probably wouldn't help you pick amongst them so here the pictures really help. The sections on cultural differences and practical tips for travelers are especially useful in this book.
The main weakness of this book is that it is heavily focused on Tokyo and Kyoto, and smaller places get short shrift. A number of reviewers have noted that maps and helpful phrases are not very complete, but I don't think you rely on a travel guide for those. A smaller phrase book that you can carry around and show to Japanese people would be more helpful, and I always buy a map of any place I am visiting for more than one or two sights or at least get the free ones the hotel inevitably gives you. Detailed maps would make this book unwieldy and even heavier than it is.
People have also noted that there are very few hotel and restaurant recommendations. This is always true of Eyewitness guides, but with the internet so easily accessible these days, this is less of a problem than it used to be. TripAdvisor.com, Expedia.com, Japan-guide.com and other travel sites have comprehensive and up-to-date hotel and restaurant info and traveler reviews and are far more useful than a book that has to go to print months in advance of being available. They are also indispensable for things like finding lodging at a Buddhist temple in Koyasan -- this guide mentions that you can do it, but doesn't tell you how. The internet is far more useful for things like that.
Finally, Eyewitness Guides don't have recommended itineraries geared to specific interests or time tables like some other guidebooks, and it is a definite weakness of the series. [...]
This book isn't perfect, but it's a useful tool in helping one plan and appreciate a trip to Japan, especially for those desiring a somewhat "touristy" experience.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book To Have
Comment: This is wonderful book full of great pictures, fun facts and interesting snippits. It is very entertaining and remains interesting thru out. It is well written with the American Traveler in mind.
Major attractions of each city/region are covered. It covers a lot of area and provides a great overview without getting to deep into any one place. It gives pricing information and as such is well done. Interesting historical and modern facts are given about locations adding to the fun.
I used it on a 2006 trip to Japan and found it very useful. It was especially helpful in the preliminary planning stages of our journey.
For a more encompassing travel guide, I recommend "Gateway to Japan" and "Exploring Japan". These three along with a common phrases book or electronic translator should be about all someone would need to have an enjoyable trip!
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