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Tokyo. Best of

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Complemented by fold-out maps anf full-color photographs, these handy pocket-sized travel guides include the best of city landmarks and must-see sights, restaurants, accommodations, and entertainment options for the traveler with limited time.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

11 people are currently reading
39 people want to read

About the author

Lonely Planet

3,678 books886 followers
OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Chery.
327 reviews2 followers
April 6, 2024
Muy estética y bien organizada, pero faltan algunas cosas que considero imprescindibles para un primer viaje.
Profile Image for Ben.
2,738 reviews233 followers
March 14, 2023
Tokyo Time

This is an excellent travel guide to the vibrant city of Tokyo. The book is well-organized and easy to navigate, with detailed descriptions and helpful tips for all kinds of travelers.

I appreciated the author's recommendations for top sights, hidden gems, and local experiences. The book also features beautiful photos that give you a sense of the atmosphere and culture of Tokyo.

One thing I particularly liked about this book was its focus on practical information. From transportation options to restaurant recommendations, the book provides plenty of helpful advice to make your trip as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

It even includes a fold-out map of the city, which is super convenient for on-the-go navigation.

Overall, I found this book to be a valuable resource for planning my trip to Tokyo. It helped me discover new places to visit and provided useful insights into Japanese culture.

If you're planning a trip to Tokyo, or just want to learn more about this amazing city, I highly recommend picking up a copy!

4.3/5
Profile Image for 7jane.
828 reviews366 followers
March 26, 2024
This best-of collection now reads to me as a dream that didn’t quite come true. What year 2020 turned out to be, and what it possibly did to some of the places mentioned here… plus the Olympics moving to the year after this one’s, and then not being quite what it was dreamed to be like… But enough of that, let’s just move into this book, look at all the great pictures and armchair travel!

The information starts right behind the covers, and also ends that way. The start describes shortly how these guides work, and the end is helpful about the arrival from Narita airport, some helpful phrases, and with a folded Tokyo map also with metro map and top 10 sights. Plus the edge of the end cover can be used to measure (cm/inch).

Let’s go into what’s inside. First comes planning your trip: events for each month and what to expect about weather (the event of sumo wrestlers making faces at kids trying to make them cry made me laugh), short introduction for hotspots for different interests, 4-day themed action plans (different places, with last day for shopping and fun). Some need-to-know like budgeting, websites, best times to go, and what to bring and wear. Finally there is information about new things, what can be done for free, and what’s good to do with families.

Top experiences part is good: certain places or subjects are in focus, with tips and great-for-this symbols (explained at the end of the book). Examples: ramen eating, shopping, walking tours, museums, markets, cherry blossom viewing, visiting Mount Fuji (on or near it) and such near-Tokyo visits, sumo watching, onsen visits, and karaoke time. Sometimes there are further places that are nearby mentioned.
I think this part of the book was the most interesting, though the next one was also great.

Then come some information about certain things (which happen in several areas of the city) that one might do: eating, shopping, going to bars, music and theatre, activities. Often these sections start with map of areas telling you what happens where, sometimes there’s best ofs for types within the subject (like cuisines, shop types), tips and information about some subjects (like best coffee places, top souvenirs, sport seasons). None of sections run very long, but sufficiently to satisfy your interests.

The Deeper Information part clearly is good to reading, not just reading while being there, or just for planning your trip. And some of the tips, like in what to read or watch on film, are good to do even if you’re not traveling right now. The Survival Guide after that is useful to read before and during, stuff like electricity, emergency numbers, opening hours, etc.

And there is some maps in the book, not just in the detachable, folding map. Not much street names, at least for the smaller, but that’s just because of how the addresses work in Japan, as is explained in the book. Some room for notes in there, too.

One was not left feeling overwhelmed with this book – the amount of information is great, but clearly meant to be best-of, in a good way. Even if you have no plans or can’t go there right now, or even when things get better, this book makes for great armchair traveling (no doubt other books in this series are the same way), and maybe even searching for more information about some things, like reading a book with some No plays, or leafing through a Japanese cookbook because you got hungry. Good information, good inspiration source – just like it should be.
Profile Image for JC  Cornell.
687 reviews
April 11, 2022
Excellent guides if you only have a short amount of time in a country.
Profile Image for Aaron Wong.
560 reviews7 followers
June 22, 2019
Restaurant routine:
•show number of people with fingers
•sit at zashiki (low tatami table), tēburu (table), or kauntā (counter)
•receive o-shibori (hot towel, free tea
•ask for recommendations or omakase with a price cap
•mark a cross with your fingers to ask for bill
- p. 219-220

Ramen (or udon or soba)
•originated in China
•common toppings: chāshū, moyashi (beansprouts), negi (leek)
•common broths: shio, shōyu with niboshi (drier young sardines), miso, tsukemen (with dipping sauce)
•eat before soggy; slurp to let air cool mouth
•kaedama: extra noodles
- p. 221
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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