Shopping In Tokyo

Japanese Phrase Book & Dictionary

by Berlitz

(ISBN-10: 9812681574)

I’ve looked at a lot of these phrase books over the years, and this is the one I keep going back to.  It has a bit of everything and gets me by.

The Little Tokyo Subway Guidebook: Everything You Need to Know to Get Around the City and Beyond

by IBC Publishing

(ISBN-10: 4896844572)

This looks interesting and I might pick it up before my next trip to see how it compares it to The Bible.  If it describes all the exits in detail, maybe.  But with The Bible, it’s really not rocket science to suss this information out.

Tokyo City Atlas: A Bilingual Guide

by Kodansha International

(ISBN-10: 4770025033)

This is THE BIBLE for travelling around Tokyo and finding anything and everything.   What’s so great about it?

• Bilingual, so even if you can’t read the Japanese, you can play “match those characters”
• The first few pages provide you details of the train system — absolutely invaluable and all you really need to navigate the trains
• The maps themselves show you the block numbers, so if you have an address, the only guess work is finding the building and floor number

Gaijin’s Guide To Japan: An alternative look at Japanese life, history and culture

by Ben Stevens

(ISBN-10: 1906321213)

This may be a book of interest to some.  I have not yet acquired it, but I’m rather curious.