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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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We feature a handpicked selection of travel guides, maps, literature, books on art, nature and culture, all designed to help you get more out of your travels to Tokyo. Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free.

Essential Reading

Item EXJPN50. Buy these 4 items as a set for $65 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Lonely Planet Tokyo

Lonely Planet Tokyo

by Lonely Planet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 264 PAGES

A compact, practical guide in the hallmark Lonely Planet style. (JPN100, $19.99)

Tokyo, A View of the City

Tokyo, A View of the City

by Donald Richie

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 142 PAGES

Richie's literate essay on the culture, history and fabric of Tokyo, where he's lived for 50 years, is structured as a geographic tour starting at the Imperial Palace and branching out. With black-and-white photos. (JPN90, $25.00)

In Praise of Shadows

In Praise of Shadows

by Junichiro Tanizaki

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 73 PAGES

An earthy meditation on traditional Japanese art, architecture and design, this essay by the great Japanese novelist, first published in 1933, offers tremendous insight into Japanese aesthetics. Most illuminating. (JPN19, $16.00)

Tokyo Map

Tokyo Map

by Borch Maps

  • 2005
  • MAP

A folded, laminated map of Tokyo at a scale of 1:17,000. (JPN102, $7.95)

 
Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best

Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best


by Fodor's Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES
  • COMING IN JUNE

A shirt-pocket map and practical guide. (JPN05, $11.99)

Food Sake Tokyo

Food Sake Tokyo


by Yukari Sakamoto

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 314 PAGES

The gourmet delights, traditional dishes, markets, kitchenware, specialty foods and marvels of Tokyo. (JPN383, $29.95)

A Lateral View, Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan

A Lateral View, Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan


by Donald Richie

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 245 PAGES

Insightful essays tackling the arts, society and culture of modern Japan by the reigning dean of critics. (JPN01, $16.95)

A Traveller's History of Japan

A Traveller's History of Japan


by Richard Tames

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A lively and concise narrative history of Japan and its transformation from Shinto, Shogun and Samurai traditions to 20th-century powerhouse. (JPN09, $14.95)

Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII

Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII


by John W. Dower

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 676 PAGES

A social and political history of the postwar years in Japan. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, it's an eye-opening account by a leading scholar of Japanese-American relations at MIT. (JPN54, $19.95)

Geisha

Geisha


by Liza Crihfield Dalby

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 380 PAGES

The observations of an American graduate student who apprenticed as a geisha, interpreting this intriguing role in traditional Japanese society. (JPN49, $25.95)

Japan, A Reinterpretation

Japan, A Reinterpretation


by Patrick Smith

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES

A thoughtful, stimulating look at the country since World War II, targeting the role of the U.S. in creating modern Japan. Highly recommended. (JPN16, $15.95)

Japan, Its History and Culture

Japan, Its History and Culture


by W. Scott Morton

  • HISTORY
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 311 PAGES

An introduction to Japanese history, people and culture from ancient origins to contemporary society. With selections from Japanese literature and arts, anecdotes and illustrations. (JPN03, $21.00)

The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea


by Kakuzo Okakura

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 116 PAGES

A graceful, witty meditation on Japanese aesthetics and culture as reflected through the tea ceremony. A celebrity and cultural ambassador, Okakura was a curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. (JPN21, $9.95)

Tokyo from Edo to Showa 1867-1989


by Edward Seidensticker

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 624 PAGES

(JPN397, $29.00)

Japanese Art

Japanese Art


by Joan Stanley-Baker

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 223 PAGES

Concise, thoroughly illustrated and comprehensive, this handsome book in the "World of Art" series is a fine survey of Japanese art from the prehistoric period to modern Japan. With 167 illustrations. (JPN08, $19.95)

The Art and Culture of Japan

The Art and Culture of Japan


by Nelly Delay

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

Lavishly illustrated, this handy pocket encyclopedia introduces the art, architecture and culture of Japan. With 165 archival and modern illustrations and a section of original documents. (JPN51, $12.95)

Angry White Pyjamas, A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons from the Tokyo Riot Police


by Robert Twigger

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Sedentary, 30-year-old Twigger' account of a grueling, ill-advised 11-month course in the marshall arts and of life as an English teacher in Tokyo in the 1990s. (JPN298, $15.99)

Lost Japan

Lost Japan


by Alex Kerr

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 269 PAGES

Originally appearing as a series of 15 articles in a Japanese magazine, long-time resident Kerr offers a wistful account of traditional culture and change in contemporary Japan. (JPN36, $14.99)

Wrong About Japan


by Peter Carey

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 158 PAGES

The Booker Prize-winning novelist's amusing encounters with manga artists and other icons of Japanese popular culture in the company of his anime-obsessed 12-year-old son. (JPN293, $11.95)

Audrey Hepburn's Neck, A Novel

Audrey Hepburn's Neck, A Novel


by Alan Brown

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

An exquisite short novel about contemporary Japan. This prize-winning work captures the eclectic, mixed-up society of contemporary Japan. (JPN14, $20.95)

Donald Richie Reader, 50 Years of Writing on Japan

Donald Richie Reader, 50 Years of Writing on Japan


by Donald Richie | Arturo Silva

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 238 PAGES

A wonderful selection of essays, criticism and other writing from Richie's many books, published articles and unpublished diaries on Japan. He covers a wide range of topics and interests, including travel, film, aesthetics and Zen Buddhism. (JPN89, $19.95)

During the Rains & Flowers in the Shade


by Nagai Kafu | Lane Dunlop

  • LITERATURE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 223 PAGES

Two novellas set in red-light 1930s Tokyo, by a consummate Tokyo chronicler. (JPN106, $21.95)

Light Verse from the Floating World

Light Verse from the Floating World


by Makoto Ueda

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 273 PAGES

An anthology of 400 often comic 17-syllable verse pomes that reflect daily life in Edo Japan. (JPN86, $28.00)

Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel

Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel


by Arthur Golden

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 434 PAGES

The runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. (JPN45, $15.95)

The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa

The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa


by Robert Hass

  • LITERATURE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 329 PAGES

A collection of haiku, tenderly translated, by three Japanese masters of the form. Edited by former Poet Laureate Robert Hass. (JPN93, $16.99)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle


by Haruki Murakami | Jay Rubin

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 607 PAGES

Murakami's most ambitious novel to date deals with, among other things, the scars of nationalism. (JPN107, $16.95)

Travelers' Tales Japan

Travelers' Tales Japan


by Donald W. George | Amy G. Carlson

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 411 PAGES

A collection of stories and essays by famous writers that captures experiences of traveling through Japan. With a range of styles and topics, this book is a great travel companion. (JPN48, $18.95)

Shall We Dance?


by Akira Emoto

  • 1966
  • DVD

When a respectable but unhappy accountant in Tokyo becomes mesmerized by a beautiful dance teacher, he signs up for ballroom lessons. To his surprise, he finds that he has a natural aptitude -- and love -- for dancing, and he struggles to hide his undignified new passion from his friends and family. Originally released in 1996. In Japanese with English subtitles. (JPN395, $14.99)

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Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.