(Part 2) Best japan travel guides according to redditors
We found 94 Reddit comments discussing the best japan travel guides. We ranked the 32 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
FOUND IT:
https://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Tales-Guides-Japan-Stories/dp/188521104X
THIS truly is the JCJ BIBLE.
I used to recommend a book called Culture Shock! Japan (actually it was Tokyo but I suppose it's mostly the same concepts); but I haven't read it in several years. It covers all the basics for expats moving to Japan, but as a JET your situation may vary.
Here's another one. Not about food, but another tip-to-tip exploration of Japan. If I ever plan a trip I'm going to re-read this and mark up a map.
As someone who works at a Japanese company, I was hoping you'd post this.
Frankly, learning Japanese in my industry is the wrong way to go. All the Japanese speak decent to excellent English. Unless you're truly interested in Japan (e.g. living there), it won't change your career trajectory. May be different in the auto industry though, I dunno.
I do have to ask, why fly into Osaka? Every flight I've been looking at had Osaka being considerably more expensive than Tokyo.
My girlfriend and I are planning on going this April for two weeks, and so far this book has been a great help.
As well as watching Life in Tokyo
You might find this book interesting.
Yes, learn as much Japanese as you possibly can before coming. Many foreigners come here without knowing Japanese and have a miserable trip. You seem very open-minded and adventurous, so you'll probably be fine!
The two-week JR pass is 550 Euros right now. The trip back from Gunma is going to probably run about 100 Euros (by bus). So that puts you at about 1350 Euros left.
Your stay in Gunma is free so you have a budget of 90 Euros/day, which is easy to manage.
Cheap, good, fun hostels run about 25 Euro/night. Read up everything and anything you can on hostels - they are your best friend. Since you don't speak the language well, I highly recommend eating at least one meal a day at the hostel (it's usually a very fair price for very mediocre food) and try and keep all your meals below 1000 yen (which is super easy to do).
If you're a drinker, stay away from beer (taxes make it very expensive) and learn to appreciate very cheap whiskeys or shochu. You can get about 6 drinks worth of whiskey for 299 yen from any convenience store in the country, so just do that outside under the stars and socialize for cheap at night.
Make friends with locals and get them to take you out! Tell them you don't have much money but would love to see more of their city. You'll probably make some great friends and get some free meals out of it. ;)
Smile and be friendly to everyone and you can have a wonderful trip on this budget, I think.
This is the best guidebook I know. It has the #s of all the hostels you'll need.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%EF%BC%A5%EF%BC%A1%EF%BC%B4%EF%BC%A9%EF%BC%AE%EF%BC%A7-%EF%BC%A9%EF%BC%AE-%EF%BC%AA%EF%BC%A1%EF%BC%B0%EF%BC%A1%EF%BC%AE%EF%BC%88%E9%A3%B2%E9%A3%9F%E7%B7%A8%EF%BC%89-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E7%B5%B5%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8D%E4%BA%8B%E5%85%B8/dp/4533004563/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1333680009&sr=8-11
CultureShock Japan
I'm really quite enjoying it. It's informative, with a dash of humour here and there. I finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol a few days ago and will likely pick up fiction again once I'm done with this.
Well you're already staying at the best hotel in town. But if you're interested you could buy the Wallpaper* City Guide Berlin, which is full of stylish and posh places to go to. You can get it in most bookstores. Check out Dussmann on Friedrichstraße, which is a big bookstore just around the corner from your hotel. Enjoy your stay at the Adlon!
Edit: better link.
Congratulations!
I agree with the others to not worry too much. If you’re like me and like being prepared, one of my favorite travel guide series is Culture Shock! and there is one on Japan. The book is helpful for overview and to give context.
No matter how much you read, you’ll still be American. I read a guide whenever I travel to another country, but it only helps so much. I had an experience in which I knew what something meant culturally, yet emotionally I reacted in a very American way. Just try your best and don’t worry too much.
If it hasn't been mentioned, Damonza.com is fantastic at covers, and completely worth the price. They created this cover
I also used their formatting service, which I wouldn't recommend.