DK Eyewitness Tokyo (Travel Guide) Paperback – March 21, 2017

I was looking for a guide just to Tokyo in addition to a general Japan book, since we would be spending most of our time their while in Japan. This one was great. I usually buy LP, and I did buy (and use) their huge Japan book for lots of things, but based on reviews I decided on Eyewitness for Tokyo. It was great. Good pictures, excellent maps (better than the LP maps for Tokyo), small enough to easily fit in my bag and easy to make with the flaps on the outside, the laminated street/subway map in the back was awesome. We did a few of the suggested walks and found them worthwhile. For things like hotel and restaurant reviews I tend to use the internet/tripadvisor to get the most up to date info (that stuff changes so quickly), but this book had enough places that it was a good jumping off point. We did eat at one recommended restaurant in Yanaka that was very good, as advertised ion the book. The Tokyo neighborhoods covered by Eyewitness overlap mostly but not completely with the LP book, so having both gave us a few more places to exploreFor in depth history and cultural information I read my LP Japan, which had more information, but this was the book I most often had in my purse as we were out and about. Highly recommended.

This travel guide is well organized and easy to locate exactly what you are seeking with a detailed table of contents and a thorough index section. The maps included are plastic laminated and easy to reference, and you can tell this guide was designed to travel along with you as it is very durably bound. Special flaps on both the back and the front covers function as place holders so you can reference more than one section while using it. It also has just enough descriptive information without being overly wordy and difficult to read on the fly. Plus, the recommendations for attractions, restaurants, lodging, and transportation were all spot-on with my experience and provided a lot of insight. I really benefitted from planning my trip using this guide! HOWEVER, if you are seeking information about Tokyo Disney Land you will not find any information about it in this guide (not that that is a significant detractor, but something to be aware of). It is, nonetheless, and excellent resource in negotiating the fantastic country of Japan.

I love these books, the pictures and straight forward information about locations are great. They shove great details into concise simple text; unlike "Lonely Planet" which have to tell stories and provide often inaccurate descriptions. I used one of the "Lonely Planet" books for India, half time prices and times for access were wrong for most locations while DK was 100% accurate. The pictures and maps provided make it easy to find locations and get around when phones and google maps not available.Even if you don't use them for travel, make great coffee table books.

I had this book with me on my last trip to Tokyo and it was very helpful! I love the walking tours that they had in there - I elected to walk the path they had for Nishi Nippori and had a lovely time. I lost my place on the path a couple of times, mostly because I decided to explore and saw some wonderful things, talked to some very nice people, had an awesome lunch and just had a lovely day. Never would have tried that without this book and its recommendations.When I go back I'm taking this with me to either try that walk again or one or two of the others they had in there.

I say for the "short-stay" traveler because the DK Eyewitness books are an excellent resource for the American type 2-week or less vacation. This book--and all of the other 7 I own--get right to the point with the most recommended sites in foreign locales. These books are not in-depth, but offer just enough of a country's history, language, culture, religion, foods, climate, etc. that is most likely to interest you. Plus, they offer great photos that align with the descriptions. And after returning home, you'll most likely refer to it again while organizing your photos and video.

I was expecting more from this. It was not as useful as I had hoped. And I feel like it is a lot smaller and less detailed then I though it would be. It did arrived quickly and on time.

This book, combined with another book, 29 Walks in Tokyo, is the perfect supplement. When we add a location that we would like to visit, we cross reference it with the other book and our Internet searches, by the time we are ready to depart we should .have like 80% of our trip planned, which makes budgeting so much simpler. If you're going for the first time, I highly recommend this book!

The DK Eyewitness Travel Guides are useful (as they advertise) for the photos and illustrations, especially of major buildings. This guide to Tokyo is useful for determining major attractions and planning which to see. Depending on the publication date, as with other travel guides, some of the details such as opening hours, prices and the like can be incorrect. I find it useful to buy a second guide, published as recently as possible and with more text, details and locations to visit.