5 comments about Japan Travel Map (Globetrotter Travel Map).

1. We have almost worn the map out planning the trip -- can't imagine what will be left after the trip but we are confident we will find our way around Japan with this excellent set of maps. Thanks.



2. I bought this map sight unseen. I looked at maps in various bookstores and found them difficult to read and expensive. This turned out of be one of the most readable maps I've seen. The back has maps of various cities with very good detail (especially for Tokyo) on where hotels, points of interest, and train/metro stops are located.
   
   It has a durable cover, but it would be nice if the paper inside was more durable. It developed some tears after a few days of heavy use.



3. This map is thorough but a bit unwieldy. The visual emphasis on roads detracts from and makes it difficult to see the train routes. I would have preferred a map with only train routes and no roads at all.



4. I brought this to Japan and used it to navigate Tokyo. It's an excellent map for the Tokyo metropolotan area only. It doesn't contain detailed street level features, but mainly major streets, locations of train stations, districts, tourist sites. You still have to maintain a level of awareness of where you are on the map since Japan is very much a walking city, you have to be careful of where you walk at the street level since it will not show you each street name.
   
   It does have names of the major companies (Like Sony, etc). So you can also determine your location based on these major companies. Japan's a place that it can be fun to get a little lost, so I didn't mind not having the street level detail. But if I were to spend more money and buy a different map, I would like a book type map that has the street details.
   
   Also, This is a fold-out map. So it can be a little tedious to unfold. Some of the creases are already starting to become weak and tear. But if you want a cheap, small map that will not add much bulk to your purse, backpack or brief-case, this can be an easy addition to your travel.



5. The main reason I purchased this book was for the map of Japan. I could not find a reasonably priced map. I was not disappointed. The bonus was the city maps of Kyoto and Tokyo. This was a good reference for our travels in Japan. Compact size allowed me to take it on our day excursions. I would definitely buy another Globetrotter book.

1 comments about Hokkaido (Travel Reference Map).

1. In a nutshell, if you are buying this map of Hokkaido as your guide while driving, beware. My friend and I thought this map would be sufficient, but it's not. Some areas are questionable and do not provide enough detail. If you plan to rent a car and drive, then feel free to buy this map (since it's in English and will provide some help) but I strongly suggest that you also get a hold of a detailed Japanese map. Together, you should be able to get around.
   
   That's basically what we did: we used the English map as a general guide and the Japanese map for the fine details. While you probably won't be a reader of Japanese, you can usually guess where you are and what route to take.
   
   Good luck. Hokkaido is a beautiful place and driving around the island is easy, safe, and enjoyable.

3 comments about Japanese Pilgrimage.

1. Oliver Statler's Japanese Pilgrimage is a delight. Retracing the steps of generations of past pilgrims, he brings their stories to life and evokes a gentle reflective mood for the reader. As well, modern Japan is brought into focus through his appreciation of the links between tradition, Buddhism and Shinto and contemporary culture. A really delightful read, and a good "travellers tale" that will be enjoyed by those who have or are planning to visit Japan.



2. This book tells the story of an American man who makes a famous pilgrimage around the island of Shikoku with his Japanese friend.
   Having lived/studied in Zentsuji Shikoku for a year, (the home of Kobo Daishi the monk who created the pilgrims trail) I can vouch for the books authenticity.

   It is a tale about the 88 temples along the way, the political intrigues, secret love affairs between villgers and pilgrims and the stories of despair and pain. Oliver weaves a beautiful web between the past history which he quotes and the present conditions of the modern pilgrims and village people he meets along the way. It is not only a book about Japanese culture accurately and sensitively crafted but the spiritual journey of the author also and his struggle with his inner darkness. Its a great read.

   Each temple along the way has a personality and a shadow and the pilgrim connects the stories of the past with his present journey as he interviews the local people and describes their various characteristics. The journey traverses various provinces from Kagawa to Kochi where the various people display unique attitudes towards the pilgrims varying between open hostility to hospitality.

   It is a good book to realize the complexity of Japanese culture and to appreciate the beauty of this amazing island of sea, temples and mountains. Oliver is truly an amazing oriental observer with the spirit of zen in each page. He writes honestly, openly and without pretention.




3. They just don't make books like this anymore! This is a wonderfully rambling, lyrical, impressionistic portrait of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, anecdotal and episodic and yet gradually unfolding according to an underlying narrative plan. It's accessible and simply written and yet well-researched, informative, and highly evocative of Japanese religiosity as it functions in real life. At times it's intensely personal, based as it is on the author's own pilgrimage experiences (mainly a complete walking circuit of the eighty-eight temples accomplished with a friend in 1971), and yet at other times it's intriguingly biographical concerning monks and pilgrims prominent in the pilgrimage's long history. The author's fervent enthusiasm and deep esteem for this religious phenomenon and its underlying spirituality overflows on every page, and yet he's quite realistic and straightforward about some of the shadier and unsavory aspects of the pilgrimage. Finally, the icing on the cake, the book is profusely illustrated with fine woodcuts and paintings both premodern and modern, once again proving the principle that a picture's worth a thousand words.
   
   The book is divided into three sections, and with each section the reader gets closer and closer to lived religion in Japan. In the first part Statler concentrates on outlining the historical personage of Kukai (later known honorifically as Kobo Daishi), the 8th/9th-century monk and founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism in Japan upon whom the pilgrimage is focused. In the second part Statler attempts to portray how layers and layers of legend and belief enlarged and eventually apotheosized Kobo Daishi and of how faith in him as a divine savior was spread among the populace by wandering, itinerant holy men (many pious if unlearned, some inevitably charlatans). Finally, in the third section the pilgrimage itself comes into sharper focus, including discussions with current pilgrims and priests along with accounts of many past pilgrims such as the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danzo VIII, the feminist writer Takamure Itsue, the Chicago anthropologist Frederick Starr, and the haiku poet Masaoka Shiki, to name only a few. And of course all three sections are permeated with legends, folk stories, anecdotes, and miracle tales that are fantastic or even bizarre--and that capture the mood and feel of the pilgrimage perfectly in all its ambiguity.
   
   Just a word of warning, though, this is not a guidebook. Statler does not describe every single one of the eighty-eight temples*, and for those temples he does describe he skips around a lot and backtracks now and then with no attempt at going along in their order on the pilgrimage route. And there is absolutely no concrete information on travel and accommodations or the like, so don't count on this book for such purposes. Instead, allow this book to get you into the spirit of the pilgrimage, whether you really intend on actually performing it or not, in fact. Indeed, you don't need to know a thing about Japan to follow and enjoy this fine account, and yet those who've studied Japan for years will doubtlessly find much to learn and enjoy as well. And if you happen to have fond memories of life in rural Japan, then believe me, this book will definitely take you back there in spirit.
   
   *(In the back there is an appendix with each temple listed by name and number along with the principal deity and sect affiliation of each, though this is more in the nature of an FYI than a guide per se).

3 comments about Osaka, Japan City Map by ITMB (Travel Reference Map).

1. I will know more when I next visit, but from memory of last January(2007) this map would have been invaluable.



2. If you're going to Osaka, I'd definitely recommend this, or at least some map. Kyoto and Tokyo are easy to figure out, but Osaka was a whole new trial. This map is easy to read, well labeled, and from what I experienced is pretty up-to-date.



3. The map of Osaka arrived within the timelines I expected and is an excellent map.

5 comments about Wicked Japanese For The Business Traveler.

1. if you become annoyed with your Japanese hosts and need a witty comeback, this book is for you. Learn how to yell insults at baseball games, for example "Hey, little fella, stand up!"



2. This book had its moments, but it's certainly not to be taken seriously as phrasebook. Chockful of American stereotypes of Japan, most of the phrases, while actually Japanese, I can't imagine actually being used in real situations.

   Well, maybe the phrases to use if you're a female being groped on a train ("Arrest this pervert!").




3. As the previous reviewer indicated, this book is not a serious study of the Japanese language, and yes, it is full of stereotypes. But Howard Tomb's take on Japanese society is often hilarious! The book is especially funny for those foreigners who have lived or stayed in Japan for an extended period of time, although that is not a prerequisite to understand the humor.

   Tomb divides the book into different situations with explanations and a number of phrases for each. The phrases start out innocently enough, but get progressively outlandish and funny. For example, in the section for "Life in a Japanese Firm" you will note phrases with Japanese translations like:

   "I will always agree with my superiors, even when they are totally wrong" or

   "My dream is to be a tiny cog in a huge and honorable machine"

   I had a friend who actually tried to use these phrases in Japanese while working for a Japanese company, but no-one understood the sarcasm (everyone took his statements seriously!). In short, the book is often hilarious in English, but not necessarily so in Japanese.

   Wicked Japanese is definately worth the [money] for the laughs that it generates, but be careful if you actually decide to use it.




4. This book is definitely not politically correct, but if sarcastic, biting humor is your thing, this one will have you rolling. As other reviewers have stated, the humor in this book is often lost on Japanese people, but if you've ever lived here, you'll probably laugh yourself to tears by the middle of the book. I use the author's explanation on why few people travel to Japan for tourism often, and it always gets laughs.

   Be very careful about using the Japanese in this book, as some of the phrases are quite offensive. Still, this is a good antidote when you've read too many boring phrasebooks, or you've had a nasty bout of culture shock.




5. I was looking for books to send to my niece in Japan. She thoroughly enjoyed the Max Danger book I sent and I wanted something in the same vein. This book is aimed at the male traveller. While it's entertaining as far as it goes, it doesn't really suit a twenty-something female. Now I face the dilemma of paying shipping to return an inexpensive book...

No comments about Japan (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

No comments about A Diplomat's Wife in Japan: Sketches at the Turn of the Century.

No comments about Insight Guides Tokyo Smart Guide (Insight Smart Guides).

No comments about They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640 (Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies).

1 comments about Tokyo Adventures: Glimpses of the City in Bygone Eras.

1. This book not only provides you with very interesting half day and full day walking tours but it really helps when you do not speak a word of Japanese. It provides you with a comprehensive commentary on the sights and sounds around you as you walk along the wonderful streets or gardens of tokyo. Detailed maps that are easy to follow are included. It even gives interesting information such as the jovial, friendly and helful policeman who sits in a certain small police post - who is very willing to give you a short history lesson on the area around there , even though it is all in Japanese or the tiny shop tucked away in a corner that makes the best fresh homemade tofu or the oldest sake shop and on so many other wonderful things. You have a choice on which tours you want to go on depending on your interest such as gardens, old streets, temples etc. Thanks to this book - I had a wonderful time in Tokyo exploring many of its charms.