asia

Fodor's was the fourth guide that I bought for Japan. It did not disappoint, but competition is tough and others do a better job in some areas.

My biggest complaint would be a poor map of Tokyo subway (black and white, coding of lines difficult to follow even for someone who is not a complete newcomer), even poorer street map of Tokyo itself and no subway map for Kyoto. True, you can get free subway maps; and decent maps of Tokyo are available separately, but after investing money into a good guide you should not have to worry about this.

The guide sounds inspired and cheerful, sections about dining, culture and the language are better than adequate. It can be quite prescriptive at times, but it does not really stand in the way of enjoyment.

The guide does a good job countering small-minded myths about "expensive Japan". To all those whining about $10 cups of coffee and $100 melons I say this: if coffee and melons and other comforts are so crucial to you, maybe you should stay at home to make sure you have cheap supply of these commodities. One recalls certain Lonely Planet writers who dedicate half of their time spent in Scandinavia to a search for cheap booze; they get very disappointed when they cannot find any and then they go on for pages and pages about it. Well, Fodor's guide does not get its foot into the same trap: when in Japan, do not try to recreate home experiences and you'll be fine. Still, I think the guide worries too much about Italian and Mexican restaurants in Japan: I do not think there are many people so strange that they would go half-way around the world and then try to get something that is available back home for a fraction of a price. Anyway, looking for an italian place in Japan is a bit like shopping for a computer in Ghana - yes, it is available, but why would you do it?

The guide is strong on directions to the attractions and descriptions are brief but accurate. I liked Hokkaido section which not all guides cover adequately (DK Eyewitness, for example, only managed to cough up a few pages - definitely not sufficient for the exciting land that is the north of Japan).

It is disappointing that Fodor decided not to cover Okinawa at all: many of travellers to Japan would want to go there. I understand this was done because they needed more space for Tokyo and Kyoto.

It is evident that the writers do not have the same fascination with Tokyo as they have with Kyoto. It is not a shortcoming because no-one really loves both the same way, yet you may find that Rough Guide does a more spirited coverage of the main city.

Overall, DK Eyewitness has much better maps (not so strong on anything else, unfortunately), Lonely Planet has solid descriptions and practical info of some more remote places and also covers kanji versions of placenames in a very convenient way, but overall Rough Guide Japan is still the strongest book for the destination (and I am not a natural fan of Rough Guide, but in Japan they really surpassed themselves and all others).

Fodor's Japan is good but not ideal unless you like their writing style and their indexing system (admittedly quite good, and goes some way towards compensating for less-than-adequate mapping) so much that you are prepared to ignore the shortcomings.

I used this book on a one week visit to Japan with my 15-year old daughter. While I had been to Japan many times on business, I had always been accompanied by Japan-based associates who delivered me from one destination to another, and refused to let me get lost. I had also not had the opportunity to do any genuine sightseeing. Using this book as our only guide we were able to: 1) Walk from our hotel in Akasaka to the Imperial Palace, seeing the Diet and a couple of shrines on the way; 2) Take the subway and trains to Kamakura for a tour of the temples; 3) Take the subway to Ryogoku to check out the Sumo stables; 4) Buy tickets and ride the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto for a tour of the temples, and return; 5) Take an ikebana (flower arranging) lesson at the Sogetsu Kaikan; And 6) shop in the Ginza and other areas. In all cases, the directions and advice were on target. I highly recommend this book.

I brought an earlier edition of "Fodor's Japan" in the mid 90ies, before my first trip to Japan. Since than, I have been back in Japan several times and read several other travel guides, including the Lonely planet guides.
I found Fodor's really outstanding. The walking tours by district are really helpful when you don't prepare for hours in advance. If you do them, you have really covered 80-90% of the important sites. This is especially helpful for day trips to Hakone, Nikko or Nara. Longer tours include good restaurant and take out tips and the descriptions are short enough to read up on while walking while still offering interesting details. I think the sections on Kyoto and Tokyo are even better than the once in guide books focused only on these cities. The book features a good range of hotels as well, organized by area and prize, but I found the dinning part really outstanding. For example, the Kanda's hidden soba shops, the collection of stylish bars or world class tempura restaurants I found in no other guide. So, I would really recommend the guide book.