Tokyo City Atlas: A Bilingual Guide (3rd Ed.)

User Review: - A Must Have!!
We traveled to Tokyo for the first time in our lives. After reading reviews about this book I've decided to purchase it, though i was also planning on getting a guide book as well. This has been a very smart purchse - we used the maps ALL THE TIME. whenever we read/heard about an attraction we opened the maps and looked for it. Many guide books say that you can't follow the address system in Tokyo, and we disagree! The maps are very detailed, including all the train stations and their exits which makes it very simply to navigate. It became much more useful than the guide book we purchased (Lonely Planet - Tokyo Encounter) which I don't recommend AT ALL. small price to pay for a very handy asset for those who don't know Tokyo.

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User Review: - Don't forget it!
This book is fantastic! It's slim, but packed with info for the Tokyo tourist. I love that it has both the kanji and the romaji pronunciation - not all Tokyo streets have the roman characters for you to read. It shows every street, even the ones without names!

I dragged this book all over Tokyo. It fit in my (admittedly large) purse easily! I had to take my GRE in a non-touristy area and I don't know how I would have found the testing center without it.

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User Review: - Essential Book for any Traveler to Tokyo!
I was just checking back with Amazon to see if there is a new version of this indispensable book. I travel to Tokyo for leisure annually and would not dream of going without this book. I actually had a nightmare a couple of weeks ago that I arrived in Tokyo without this book!

As other reviewrs have said, this book will allow you to make sense of the unusual Japanese address system. Very importantly as well, it will help you in deciding which station exit to take as you travel around the city. When one is dealing with a station like Shinjuku (the world's largest)this is incredibly useful. Locate where you want to be when you come out of the station, and select the appropriate station exit from the map.

Can't recommend this one enough!

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User Review: - This Book is Absolutely Necessary
I live and play in Tokyo, and this book is absolutely necessary, whether you are traveling here for a week, or moving here for 3 years to life. But let's be honest, it can be confusing. The book does the best job possible of mapping out Tokyo, with only a handful of errors for a few subway exits (i.e., the map makes it look like you turn right, when you need to turn left, and it's the reason it doesn't get a 5), but Tokyo is so completely confusing that there is really no way to get more detailed or accurate without GPS. Here are a few things you will find in the book:

1) Metropolitan Tokyo Rail System map on the inside of the cover. This map offers a visual representation of all (except one new that just opened) rail lines in and around Tokyo. It's expansive, including all of the 23 ku (sub-cities) that make up Tokyo. One of the most important things about this first map is that it gives you a N-E-S-W overall visual for orientation. This can really come in handy if you need to travel to one of the more remote areas that are not included in the various map sections spanning 84 pages of the book.

2) Tokyo Subway System Map. This may be the most important map in the book if you plan to use the Tokyo Subway system. Let's be honest, if you come to Tokyo, you will most likely need to take the subway somewhere. The map is color-coded by specific subway lines, so if you need to travel from the southern part of Central Tokyo to the northern part, and make subway transfers along the way, this map will tell you which stations connect between multiple lines and where to make transfers. The map is strictly of Central Tokyo, however, and won't help much if you are outside of Central Tokyo. Given that there are over 300 subway stations in Central Tokyo alone, you can comprehend the need for a map that shows exactly how they interconnect.

3) The Contents Page. The contents page directs you to specific maps of areas of Central Tokyo (pages 8-37), but does not separate out the majority of the 23 wards (pages 38-79). It also includes a couple of outlying areas, Keihin, Kawasaki, Yokohama, etc. Unfortunately, the Contents page is mostly useless. I never rely on it, but instead use the 40 page index.

4) Individual maps of sub-sections of the City. The maps are grouped by areas of the city, starting with the heart of Tokyo at Tokyo Station, and going in a random, not really logical grouping of various parts of the city in the pages that follow. The maps include extreme detail, including building names, town and chome boundaries, chome numbers and block numbers, but not specific building numbers. Addresses in Japan, as another reviewer pointed out, are confusing. For example, if you have been given the address of a restaurant as Roppongi 6-6-9, the map book will give you the area (Roppongi), will divide it by sections (chome) of Roppongi (Roppongi (6)), and in light blue will give a small number for the correct block. It will also show the closest subway station, usually a light purple, and in bold number, the subway exit closest to the block where you need to go. You'll find the book easier to use as you get used to the addressing system in Tokyo, and if you happen to find yourself on a block with one or two buildings, it'll be easier to find your locations. Problems arise when you are trying to go someplace out of the way, or some hidden little restaurant in an unfamiliar part of town. In cases where there are many buildings on a block, you may have to search hard for the place you want to go, but the book will at least get you to the right block.

One other important detail is that some streets in Tokyo are actually named streets (dori), and in those cases, the names are identified on the map. One other important feature is that everything in the book is bilingual, so if you have an address, get into a taxi with no GPS, you can show the driver the page of the area you are going, and he'll be better able to take you where you need to go because he can read the book as well.

I never leave home without this book.

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User Review: - You won't get lost
This book is indispensable for anyone spending much time in Tokyo. It got me (and my directionally-challenged spouse) around for several months. It includes the numbers of various exits at subway stops that can save you much aggravation and extra walking. And it has the added advantage that you can read it without looking like you're lost all the time.

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