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Reviews of the Rough Guide to Japan:
Kansai Time Out, May 1999 The latest addition to the ranks of guidebooks about Japan is the first edition of the Rough Guide's Japan book, which follows hot on the heels of their rather fine Mini-guide to Tokyo. Japan, like many other Rough Guides, has good maps - Lonely Planet and some of the other guidebook publishers could certainly learn a thing or two about designing easy-to-read maps. Guidebooks are increasingly a matter of personal choice. In the old days where there were fewer, choice was naturally limited. Now, with so many on the market it pays to ask friends which ones they have found useful or to have a good browse while in the bookshop. Some swear by Lonely Planet; others think Rough Guides are the best while there are those who regard Fodor's as their bible. I personally like the Rough Guides, the writing can be quite funky and funny; pop culture is covered well; good clubs, bars and cafes are listed - you can tell that the authors have covered the ground thoroughly. However, nothing is perfect, and the glaring mistake which I immediately noticed was that the Osaka phone numbers hadn't been updated to reflect that they are now eight digits and no longer seven. Nonetheless, the Kansai information is pretty spot on, and there is a good section on getting to Koya-san in Wakayama. Anyone looking for a new guidebook to our current, adopted home would be well advised to look at this new Rough Guide.
The Times (London), 24 April 1999 Japan isn't renowned as the easiest destination for travellers, but Rough Guide's no-nonsense advice should help you sort out your onsen (hot spring) from your otearai (squat lavatory). The A-Z of pop culture is particularly good.
Skin Deep, March 2000 After talking to a couple of fellow tattooists, it was soon decided that it was Japan or bust. The first step was to purchase a copy of the Rough Guide to Tokyo by Jan Dodd and Simon Richmond. This little gem proved to be more than worth it's cover price of £6.99.
» I carried your book around japan last spring, and it helped me to have a really good time! so much so that im now thinking about going back for a couple of weeks
» Your book is really proving a wonderful source. Thank you.
» I was doing research on Peter Tasker, came upon your site and became sidetracked. I'm half-Japanese, used to live in Japan, and have found most guidebooks (except for some onsen guides) unappealing. But I am getting your guides on Japan and Tokyo before my spring trips and will tell my bookstore (one of in the Borders chain) that they ought to keep your books in stock. Your insights and vision refreshed and made new some old Japan favorite places of mine and have inspired me to see more. Thank you.
» I found your guide exemplary indeed. May I note that the guide helped me throughout my 16 days of intensive travel all over the island. It was the only one I took along, and it never let me down! Thanks.
» Thankyou so much for the most useful book on Japan I have ever read. As a Japanese teacher it is handy to have so much detailed information on Japan in one book.
» Your Rough Guide Japan is just wonderful. I have a lot of time to travel here and your book is an endless source of inspiration and information.
» I have just returned from a 3 week trip to Japan and relied on the Rough Guide extensively - thanks for the great explanations and listings. I really found the guide useful, and have been recommending it and other Rough Guides to friends. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. Many thanks for your diligent work, and great writing.
» I finally managed to get the Rough Guide to Japan into my hands, and spent most of last weekend going through it - what a great read! Very enjoyable and so much information not only on where to go and what to see but also on "background stuff" which usually is either missing or very shallow in guide books. I'm planning on my first trip to Japan and I will most definitely pack the Rough Guide with me.
» As the proud owner of a Rough Guide to Japan, I first of all would like to congratulate you on a magnificent read - I have already passed days and days with it! As I am planning a visit to Japan (next year, for about a month, I guess), it has already proven very helpful in preparing my itinerary.
» I picked up a copy of your Rough Guide to Japan at our local B&N and am thoroughly enthralled with it. I've read a few others in preparation for a forthcoming trip to Japan, and I am absolutely delighted with the detailed coverage in yours. Congratulations! And your comments on rec.travel.asia seem to me to be exceptionally useful. I hope you will continue to produce such exceptional guidebooks in the future.
» Congratulations on a very intelligently written guide!
» Seems to be among the best books I have seen on the subject. It has plenty of interesting information for me even though I have lived in Japan for a couple of years now.
» I used the guide extensively as a student in Japan. It has been indispensable in my 5 weeks here. Thanks!
» I have just come back from a trip to Japan, where the Rough Guide to Japan proved invaluable. I have never travelled with such a good guide before.
» We travel frequently to Japan and in all our trips the Rough Guide was the ONE book that went with us.
» I've been doing a great deal of research for my trip and have read significant chunks of probably every guidebook on the market. Your Rough Guide Japan is far and away the best.
» We are using your guide to explain 'Must see places in Kyoto' to our guests, since your guide book is so organized by each area and also by purpose and easy to follow even for us who are not native English speakers.
» I look forward to the new edition of your guide. My old copy is slightly worse for wear. Outside Shikoku Mura I put it on the bonnet of my car and then drove away. I found the book on the road several minutes and a couple of kilometres later. It had been run over by at least one car (clear tyre marks on pages 832-3), and slightly dampened by rain, but otherwise in good working order.
» Your books are terrific. I am now living in Tokyo, have spent a good number of years here in the past decade, and still find many useful suggestions and observations in your Japan volume. My wife is French, and we are there regularly, and have used the France guide when travelling around her hometown in the Basque country. And took your book with us to Vietnam last summer, and found it invaluable. Congratulations on being so consistently excellent in your travel writing.
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