Lonely Planet Japan (Travel Guide)

Loved everything about it. Helped us a lot to plan our holiday to Japan, lots of helpful insights and advice. Totally recommend

Yes. Yes. Yes. Buy. Buy. Buy.

I bought this guide to prepare for an upcoming trip to Japan. It's the first lonely planet guide I've bought since they moved to their new format and while I know not everyone disagrees, I like the new structure which has less focus on where to stay and where to eat (info I typically get from tripadvisor or Google now rather than a guide book) and more info on the feel of each city which helps me to plan my itinerary better.

Gifted to a friend and they have used it already to book locations in Japan.

I have used LP for decades, often buying newer editions even when returning to the same location. I won't be using them anymore after having bought a number of guidebooks in the new design. In this case I already owned the previous Japan LP edition from 2021 in the old layout and can clearly compare the differences. The 2021 version was approx. 930 pages long, the new edition comes in at around 770 pages. With the new design LP have essentially become picture books, with lots more images and mini essays instead of listings, but their actual content and informative value has been reduced considerably. Some sections barely serve essential needs: per city one gets only a handful of accommodation recommendations, restaurants, bars, and shopping outlets to choose from. The maps inside the book are bizarrely faint and so minimalist that I wonder who is supposed to find their way with them (the detachable map of Tokyo has sensibly retained the old design and remains usable). Practical information on public transport, opening times, or addresses barely feature, or are difficult to locate. I guess the assumption is that readers are supposed to find these details by themselves searching online. The service and contexts sections at the end of the old LP books have been replaced by a generously illustrated 'Toolkit' (e.g. the LGBT section features a rainbow flag that takes up a fifth of the page, while the health and safety section weirdly focusses on beach safety signals, without mentioning essential health advice). Informative summaries on land and culture, meanwhile are now curated as a 'storybook' with 'curated' texts on random topics. This book may be useful for people who have their entire holidays organised for them and like to dip into some light reading while travelling, but for independent travellers it is useless. I am grateful that I bought the old edition which, despite being a few years old, will still serve me OK for my trip this year. For future journeys I will be looking for alternatives.

Well researched for the 2024 update. Easy reading with a broad mix of interesting info, including history/background facts across many regions, both popular spots & less popular with invaluable info & tips for a mixed itinerary. Easy to follow and a good size/weight to fit into day bag for those often needed change of mind/plan days.

This is ok, I just don’t like the way lonely planet sections out its information anymore. Please go back to writing by areas and towns rather than confusing ‘strolling along the river’ type titles where you have to search through to understand what you’re reading about. Town? Forest? City? Its hard to know. It’s a bit frustrating at times.

Includes a pull-out map. Covers the expected sites in Japan. Clearly organised and well displayed. A hard copy is always the easiest to use. LP also allows digital download for those who buy a hard copy.