Tokyo

Whenever I travel I like to buy several guide books to compare their notes, learn about everything I can and soak up the culture. That way when I get tehre I recognize monuments and locations and have a sense for the meaning behind what I see. The Insight Guides - Tokyo book does a great job of providing this information. There are MANY full color glossy images in here so that you get a real sense about what Tokyo is all about. There are many cityscapes of the different regions, as well as images of historical buildings, the people, fish markets, and much more. It really helps to immerse you into this world. The text is informative, entertaining, and quite useful. They bold key words so that you can spot them in a scan, but it's really best to simply read through the material, getting a sense of Tokyo, what makes it unique. There's a wealth of historical information so you can understand why things are done a certain way or why a given monument is so treasured. I definitely agree that this is "larger than hip pocket size". This isn't the one I'd carry with me on the subway while moving from place to place. Other books fulfill that need quite nicely. This is the reference guide I carry in my suitcase, to read on the plane, to be prepared before I make my trip and to go back to refer to while I'm at a location. For those purposes this does admirably. Highly recommended.

This book is great for planning a trip to Tokyo. It shows all the attractions that are of interest and is a great companion for finding places to dine, stay, and shop. This guide has it all with high-quality photogrpahs and maps on every page. This is a must of a beginner traveller to Tokyo or anywhere in Japan.