Lonely Planet Japan (Country Travel Guide) Review

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Lonely Planet Japan (Country Travel Guide) ReviewOne thing you find about being in Japan for awhile is that no guide book can read your mind - you have to discover your favorite places for yourself. However, a book like this can be very helpful no matter how familiar you are with the country, and for newcomers it's indispensable. Here's why:
Lonely Planet does a good job of packing as much detail as possible into each section. Beyond the typical hotel and restaurant listings, they mention a wealth of transportation options in even the most remote areas of the country, they include cultural anecdotes about each region, and -most importantly- include plenty of Japanese script to help you find your way around, especially on rural rail lines.
They have a good sense of humor without being haughty (as many other travel guides on Japan do - such as Frommer's), although one of their best quotes - the suggestion that the resort area of Hakone can seem like 'a conveyor belt designed to strip you of your cash' is nowhere to be found.
There are plenty of listings for bargians both in eating and accomodation - Lonely Planet has never been the wealthy man's guide, although if you *are* swimming in cash, it will do you just fine.
Extensive maps with good detail. You might think this would be standard for all travel guides - but this is a detail that many of them overlook.
Lonely Planet is very good about warning you of potential tourist traps. This is especially important in Japan, where if you decide to sightsee in the same location as everyone else, you'll feel like you're heading to the bathroom during halftime of an NFL game. LP advises you of peak travel seasons to different areas of Japan that you may want to avoid to save money and beat the crowds. In Japan, fellow tourists in most cases will be other Japanese - lots of them.
LP has consistently produced the best guide to Japan out there and works hard to ensure its info is up-to-date. Other travel guides, for example, have STILL not noticed that a new shinkansen (bullet train) line was built from Kagoshima to Yatsushiro in Kyushu, shaving hours off the trip to Fukuoka, and that the name of Kagoshima's central train station changed as a result. LP is the only book I have seen that noticed this major transportation development - in place for almost two years now.
Big sections on Japan's most visited cities (Tokyo and Kyoto), with good suggestions for side trips for those on a tight schedule.
So why only three stars? First, there isn't THAT much new material in this guide. If you are familiar with Japan and keep up with the news in the country, you can probably rely on older editions of this guide - there isn't anything crucial meriting a purchase, unless you want a few more restaurant suggestions. If Japan is new to you, you need this most up-to-date edition, which will be your best friend - especially outside of Tokyo.
Second, LP's editors sometimes seem to have a hard time making up their mind as to what parts of Japan are interesting and worth a look: in the last edition, the small northern city of Aizu-Wakamatsu was mentioned only in brief as a drab industrial city, but here it is covered in pretty extensive detail. Who suddenly decided to put Aizu on the 'cool' list? As I said above, only you can decide in the long run what things in Japan are best for you, but I think Aizu's worth a visit (just don't go in the fall unless you want to see the entire population of northern Honshu there with you).
Third, although I enjoy LP's sense of humor, any guide that uses "frisky" and "volcanoes" in the same sentence is automatically disqualified from a five-star rating. Also, I can do without the left-wing rah-rahing that pops up in some places (though many 'progressive' world travelers enjoy that sort of thing, so it shouldn't hurt sales). Finally, I would prefer that LP limit its use of the word 'vibrant' to 50 instances per edition. On a positive note, the horrible Sailor Moon inspired 'anime' drawing in the 'Culture' section, so obviously wrought by someone not Japanese, is gone.
All that aside, any visitor to or resident of Japan ought to have a copy of this guide. It's a valuable resource and one of the few travel guides that -if not perfect- does everything right that it needs to and beats out the competition. If you're considering a visit to Japan, this book should be your first reference.Lonely Planet Japan (Country Travel Guide) Overview

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