Berlitz Japanese Phrase Book

Hey, I've had to travel to Japan a couple times for work and have both this and the Lonely Planet phrasebook. While the Lonely Planet version has more stuff on how to speak in japanese I found it extremely difficult to use when I was on the street, in a store, or at my hotel trying to communicate. The berlitz is sectioned out pretty well and one thing I really appreciated which the lonely planet didn't is how to ask for a drink on the rocks. I still keep the Lonely Planet one with me when I travel over there but leave it at the hotel. When I go out and wonder around the country I'm never without my Berlitz guide. It has a little less content but I find the content is both more useful and a lot easier to get through when trying to talk with the locals.

I have been living in Japan for over two years now and this thing is still in my back pocket (albeit a bit ratty now).I have invested tons in pocket dictionaries and phrasebooks. I don't even bother to carry anything else with me now. Even though my Japanese can get me through a conversation, I still have trouble, and that's where this book comes in.Excellent organization, and the fact that it's written in both romanized characters, so you can read it, and Japanese characters, so they can read it, is a Godsend. I have copied pages from it for my Japanese students who were taking a trip to the states. I could go on and on, but this little book has been a life saver. Easily the best 10 bucks I've ever spent.Extremely useful if you have no Japanese, and still quite handy even if you do. Even has a section on hitting on people!

Having to move to Japan for 3 years, this is the handiest and most worn book in my library. Small enough to fit in your pocket or purse, but color coded so that you can find what you need in a hurry.

It's a very very good book. It is divided in many sections for reader easy to find the word and it unlike other Japanese learning books which only has sound translations, it also has Japanese "kana" or "kanji" for reader really can learn Japanese.