Hi there!
So, with all the free information available online, why get a guidebook for Japan travel?!
Well, when it’s your first trip and you are brand new to a country, they can make a GREAT starting point to understanding the basics.
This can include cultural nuances and practicalities of getting around.
Or, if you are old-school and just like books, they are good too. 😉
And…
Spoiler alert.
I am a big fan of Lonely Planet for beginner’s guides to countries in Asia.
They can serve to quickly give you a list of places to eat and places to stay, and they can give you context for the places you’re going with a little bit of history.
And most importantly, they give the practical tips of getting around a country and the best way to get from one place to another, whether that may be by bus, train, or taxi.
More below on specific Japan books that can be helpful for planning your first trip to Japan!
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Now…
First, the quick list of the best books and pdf’s for your trip to Japan
Then, the quick list of the top places to visit in Japan (with a bonus spot!)
And then finally, more about the books that can help you plan a perfect first trip to Japan, with what each of the travel guides can offer you depending on what you’re looking for!
So…
What are some of the best guidebooks for planning your first trip to Japan?!
There are affiliate links below. You should totally check out these guidebook reviews!
The quick list of the best books for travel in Japan
- Discover Japan (overview of the best places to visit in Japan with pictures)
- Discover Tokyo (overview of Tokyo neighborhoods)
- Lonely Planet Japan (practical travel tips for getting around Japan – 900+ pages and text heavy)
- DK Eyewitness Japan (best places to visit in Japan with pretty pictures)
- Japan by Rail
- Onsen of Japan (best of Japanese hot springs and bath houses)
- Japanese Inns and hot springs (best of Japanese-style ryokan accommodation)
- Japanese phrasebook for travel
Top places to visit for a first trip to Japan itinerary
You will want to be sure to see the most iconic places to visit in Japan!
1. Tokyo
2. Mt Fuji
Climbing Mt Fuji as a 2-day hike
This is what my 2 days of climbing Mt Fuji looked like with an overnight mountain hut stay and hiking to the top of Japan.
3. Fuji Five Lakes (for Mt Fuji views)
How to spend one day in Fuji Five Lakes area
Being in the Fuji Five Lakes area is all about Mt Fuji views! This is what I did with one day in Kawaguchiko.
4. Kyoto
Use this Kyoto tourist map to plan out your 5 days in Kyoto!
- Day 1:Â Top tourist spots with one day bus pass
- Day 2:Â Fushimi Inari Shrine hike through 1,000 torii gates
- Day 3: Philosopher’s Path walk
- Day 4:Â Arashiyama and Sagano
- Day 5:Â Kurama Kibune Ohara with one day pass
Kyoto used to be a capital of Japan, and there are a number of UNESCO world heritage sites in Kyoto.
5. Nara
How to spend one day in Nara
This is a popular day trip from Kyoto, and these are places to visit with one day in Nara.
As another ancient capital of Japan, there are a number of UNESCO world heritage sites in Nara too.
6. Osaka
Day trip to Osaka and Himeji from Kyoto
Osaka and Himeji both have grand castles, so you can make it a castle day with both Osaka and Himeji.
7. Hiroshima
Visit Hiroshima’s main attraction
You’ll want to give yourself 2 hours minimum at the Hiroshima peace park that is in remembrance of victims of the world’s most tragic nuclear bombing, although you could easily spend a full day here.
8. Miyajima
Day trip to Miyajima from Hiroshima
You’ll take a ferry to get to Miyajima, and these are things to do with one day in Miyajima.
Save this page for the golden route of Japan to refer to these above places later!
BONUS: Okinawa
As a bit of a distance from mainland Japan (flying is the easiest way to get there), Okinawa isn’t often on a first-time visitor’s itinerary.
This is a group of tropical islands in the far south of Japan.
But if you have a few extra days after a week or 2 of intense travel in Japan, Okinawa can be the perfect way to finish off your trip!
This is how you can spend 3 days in Okinawa with hiking, biking, and snorkeling!
BONUS: Cherry blossom season in Japan
One of the most popular times to visit Japan (aka one of the most crowded times!) is in the spring with cherry blossom season.
Here’s a sample one-day cherry blossom photo walk in Japan and here’s a castle park where you can go for a picnic under cherry blossom trees.
And now…
Back to the books!
Why some of the above listed Japan travel guides are the best!
Discover Japan
This book is good for discovering not only regions of Japan to visit, but also can serve as a guide to the different cultural experiences that are perfect for your first trip to Japan.
It’s also full of pictures and this can be the perfect starting point when you don’t even know where you start with your Japan trip planning! (Also check when the worst time to visit Japan might be.)
If you’re at the point where you have NO idea where to go in Japan or NO idea what types of activities there are, I would say there’s a good chance you will be happy with this Discover Japan book!
There’s also a Discover Tokyo book too.
ULTIMATE country-wide Japan guidebook
These types of big country books are especially good if you’ll be backpacking around Asia and won’t have a chance to thoroughly research every single location before you get there.
It’ll give you the quick low-down of what you need to know once you’re in a place, and it’ll also quickly give you the details you need to know for moving around.
So then of course that means it can also be helpful if you ARE doing a ton of your planning ahead of time.
This gets into the specifics of each city – what to see, what to do, where to eat, where to stay, and how to get from here to there!
The Discover Japan book has a little bit of that too, but this main Lonely Planet Japan book is a bit more expansive and covers more areas and cities. I would say it’s more detailed with practical tips.
It also has a section dedicated to all the little things to know about Japan that you might not even think to ask about. The small things that can make a big difference when you are traveling around Japan!
The Lonely Planet Japan big book is 900+ pages, while the Discover Japan book is 300 pages.
What’s lacking in the country-wide Lonely Planet big books are pictures.
It’s nearly all text, as I would say the main goal is to actually give you the details you need when you are on-the-go in Japan.
Compare the reviews of these guidebooks:
- Lonely Planet Japan (the big book)
- Discover Japan (the overview with pictures)
City guidebooks (Tokyo, Kyoto)
If you already know where you’re traveling in Japan, and you’re sticking to the big cities of Tokyo or Kyoto, there are also city-specific guides.
I would say that if you’re buying the big LP book of Japan, you don’t need to buy the individual city guidebooks, as a lot of the information will overlap.
Although, one reason you might want to buy the city book anyway is that it’ll be much better to carry around a thinner city book than the thick Japan book.
You could use the big book for research purposes at home, and then take with you the smaller book to Japan.
City pocket guidebooks (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka)
And then the most travel-friendly of the Lonely Planet books (not including e-books!) are the pocket guidebooks.
These are smaller books, and if you’ll be spending a week in Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka, you may consider getting the pocket book.
See the reviews of the Tokyo city guidebooks:
- Tokyo city guide (mostly text)
- Discover Tokyo (overview with more pictures)
- Tokyo pocket guide
See the reviews of the Kyoto city guidebooks:
- Kyoto city guide (mostly text)
- Kyoto and Osaka pocket guide
Japanese phrasebooks
You really don’t NEED to know any Japanese for a trip to Japan. You will survive even if you don’t know anything.
The big cities and main tourist attractions will have English signs all over.
If you head to some of the smaller towns, there may not be any English, but you will probably manage. 😉
But of course, it can be helpful, and nice, to know some Japanese.
So you might consider getting a book of simple Japanese phrases that you can use when traveling in Japan.
See the reviews for these Japanese phrasebooks:
Also, the Google Translate app can be helpful when you’re in Japan. There’s a feature that you can take a picture of written Japanese and it will translate it for you. This might be especially helpful for reading restaurant menus in particular.
If you REALLY want to learn Japanese and are serious about it, start with the Genki series – these books are also used at the university level to for Japanese language learning. And get started with learning how to write in Japanese properly. (Stroke order matters!)
Tokyo sightseeing guide PDF
A useful free pdf is this Tokyo metro guide.
What makes this pdf useful for planning your trip to Tokyo is that you can see the visual of the subway route right alongside all the top Tokyo attractions.
This can help you make an efficient plan for one day in Tokyo… or more!
Using a book to guide the way!
If you ARE more of a book person, there are plenty of people who walk around town with an actual book to guide the way too! 🙂
HAPPY JAPAN TRAVEL PLANNING!