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Fodor's Japan, 16th Edition: The Guide for All Budgets, Completely Updated, with Color Photos and Many Maps (Fodor's Gold Guides) Editorial Review:
No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go. In this completely up-to-date guide our experts who live in Japan give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do -- from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun. Fodor's Japan shows you hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges -- from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special. The Smart Travel Tips A to Z section helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice -- from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency. Your personal supply of Post-it? flags makes it easy to mark your favorite listings. Plus, web links, costs, and mix-and-match itineraries make planning a snap.
Customer Reviews:
Japan
I needed some books on Japan since we were takign a trip to Japan. Books on the Far East are not all that plentiful at Dallas book stores so we ordered from Amazon. This one is not the most up to date however we found it worth the cost and sights and places listed haven't changed in many years.
Nice $$ Hotels; Restaurant Reviews; Shopping
I have this guide but I don't take it to Japan. It probably has the best descriptions of all the temples and sights, but practical information, such as "Where is this hotel?" seems to be left out. For example, there is an entire page devoted to a description of Nijo-jo in Kyoto. However, if you're staying at the "starred" (recommended) Yachiya Ryokan in Kyoto, all you have to go on to get there is its address: 34 Nanzen-ji fukuchi-cho, etc. At least the Kyoto hotel map will give a general location. Only the hotel map has hotel locations and you have to find it among the other sightseeing maps. On many maps, such as that of Nagasaki, not one hotel is placed. Luckily, the hotels listed are large enough that a taxi driver should be able to find them.
Especially in the major destinations, each chapter has an "A to Z" listing that gives practical information about transportation, car rentals, sightseeing tours, and shopping, such as listing the department stores and craft shops.
There is usually a comprehensive hotel listing, but most seem to be in Y20,000 ($200) and up categories. There is sometimes one "token" inexpensive place listed, such as the Hiraiwa Ryokan in Kyoto.
This guide has the best listing of good restaurants, if your trip includes dining out at top-notch restaurants. Restaurants of all ethnicities are covered, from Middle Eastern and French to Indian and Japanese. The decor is commented on as well as the food and service.
I think this guide is for people with a large budget and little time, who can take taxis to find destinations, and once there, would like to read about it. It's also for those who will be spending 99% of their time between Tokyo and Hiroshima. Once the core area is left, the listings get thin for Tohoku, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Many places are listed but the practical information is missing (choice of hotels and restaurants).
Itineraries in locale chapters are suggested under subheadings such as "If you have 2 days," to help you decide where you'd like to go. Entire Japan trip itineraries at the beginning are suggested if you have 14-16 days, 9 days, or 8 days. These are helpful in planning if you haven't been before.
Some of the information provided wasn't checked and is incorrect. It is nothing major though. For example, the author of the Sado Island sections states that "10,000 tons of silver and gold are mined annually." It's not even a typo; Mitsubishi Mining Co. sold off the mine in 1973 when it stopped producing. The Sado Gold Mine, Co. worked it until 1989 and then shut down. Another place is in Kushiro, Hokkaido where an arriving ferry is mentioned. There is no longer any ferry to Kushiro from Tokyo. These are minor errors but you can find them throughout.
If you plan to do Japan in 2 weeks, enjoy staying in $150-$200 per night hotels or ryokan, can rent a car at several destinations, and take taxis to get to your hotel, restaurant, or sightseeing destination, then this guide is a good choice. It is not for the budget traveller who is concerned with saving money to stay longer. It has more historic and cultural information about each place than other guides except maybe Kodansha or Eye Witness. It also lists more top-end hotels than even the JNTO brochures.
I have it, I take notes from it, but I don't carry it with me.
Very good, but there may be stronger contenders
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.
Gaijin friendly
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.
One of the best guide books on Japan
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.
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