Tokyo Q 20002001: Annual Guide to the City

Tokyo is big and rich and important and complex. While it's not unfriendly, it doesn't go out of its way to present itself conveniently and easily to outsiders. That's why you need to know insiders. This book is the product of an army of insiders. Cool, hip, switched-on, diverse, interesting, funny and well-conneted insiders. Led by the erudite and witty Rick Kennedy. (The credits say Rick worked for Sony for 20 years. How did he keep his sense of humour?) The book is great for visitors, but I think much more useful for residents who have the time to search out the restaurants, theatres, galleries and shops. (I had my first familiarisation visit from the cop at the local koban--and thanks to TQ I knew what to do!) I look forward to the next edition. But guys...I tried to visit the TQ website and kept turning up a 404. What gives?

I recently went to a Tokyo with this and a Rough Guide to Japan. While the Rough Guide was good for giving general travel info and information on the major sights and museums etc, the Tokyo Q guide was what gave me access to a Tokyo which otherwise would have been a hidden to me as a tourist. The book has great sections on restaurants and neigborhoods which you can tell are written by people who live there and have a good sense of the city. However, its strongest point is its list of bars and clubs. I cannot fathom how you would find these places without this book. As a tourist who has no desire to hang at the Hard Rock with other tourists the book gave me access to a number of really cool little bars and clubs which made me love Tokyo. The best thing to do would be to buy this in conjunction with a regular guide book like Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide because while it is a great guide,it is pretty idiosyncratic and does not give you all the mundane details on sights and practical travel tips.Props to Tokyo Q. Hope they have a new edition by the time I visit Tokyo again.

The ONLY Tokyo Guide Book worth buying. I live here and couldn`t put it down. It only lists what is really worth seeing and is written by those who live here - apparently over 30 contributors with a total of 265 years of living in Tokyo between them. Buy it.