Tokyo, 29 Walks in the World's Most Exciting City Paperback – September 10, 2012

John H. Martin and Phyllis G. Martin have given novice and experienced travelers a truly practical, easy to read walking guide. “Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City” is rich in color photographs showing the beauty of the sights to be seen, but even more important are the detailed maps that each focus on the specific walking tour highlighted in individual chapters. A pocket in the book’s back cover contains a larger, folded map of the city. One side of that map shows Northern Tokyo; the other side shows Southern Tokyo and the subway system.An introductory chapter briefly addresses Tokyo’s heritage; the chapter is short and is by no means a definitive history of that city. Chapter 1 includes six walking tours in Central Tokyo that provide visitors with multiple options to explore history, culture, art, and other sights of interest. The focus of Chapter 2 is Eastern and Northern Tokyo; there are six walking tours there. Chapter 3 addresses Southern Tokyo and includes three walking tours. Chapter 4 concentrates on Western Tokyo and three walking tours. Chapter 5 provides information on six walking tours through Yokahama and Points South. Finally, Chapter 6 wraps up the book with four walking tours through points West, North, and East of Tokyo. An appendix providing Tokyo General Information and an index conclude “Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City”.Each chapter begins with a detailed two-page map of the tour area. The ensuing discussion leads off listing points of interest on each area’s tour. At the end of each walking tour, an information box provides very brief directions on “Getting There”. Some of the walking tour chapters include a map or maps specific to the particular tour.“Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City” is quite portable; it is an ideal size – 5 ¼” X 8 ¼” X ¾” - and weight – including the foldout map, 1 lb. 3 ¼ oz. - for travelers. It has a rigid, but slightly flexible cover, and the pages of the book are a slick, heavy paper. My only “complaint” is that, like other tour guides highlighting Japan, the print is a very small font and is not very dark. This makes it difficult for more mature eyes to read easily.“Tokyo: 29 Walks in the World’s Most Exciting City” is a book I will use extensively to plan my stay in Tokyo and one that will travel with me when I visit that city. Definitely a 5-star guide for travelers!

I've been to Tokyo more than a dozen times, typically for a week at a time. Every trip I get another guidebook or two just to learn something new and get new ideas; "29 Walks" is the latest.The book does a credible job with its topic, certainly better than many of the "best walks" type guides I've seen from other publishers and cities. It has 29 interesting areas in and around Tokyo and does a nice job of describing them with current and historical detail. The maps are especially good (a difficult thing in Tokyo). Overall the content is very well-selected and suggested a few interesting new routes and destinations to me even after so many trips there. And the pull out map was much better than I expected: instead of just being a cheap afterthought, it is a very nicely-printed and thoughtful map that will serve well to give you an decent medium-scale view of everything inside the central loop (Yamanote line).Of particular note is that the locations and sights chosen are especially good for getting a sense of Tokyo. If you visit even 1/4 of the areas in the book, you will have a great understanding of the city, certainly much better than that of someone who just sees the neon and western hotels.Still, there are limitations and you should know what you're getting. First, it is nothing more than a guide to the walks. In particular, there is nothing to help you with restaurants, lodging, etc. That's not a big problem, but means that it is not a complete guidebook. Second, the walks are all extremely urban with minor exceptions (e.g., Kamakura). It is not a guide to hiking or nature walks. Again, not a problem but an observation. Tokyo is perhaps the world's most vibrant and exciting city, and this guide is all about the *city* (plus a few day trips).Third, the book is nicely printed on thick paper with color photos and maps. Unfortunately that brings up the one serious problem: it is surprisingly heavy! When I took it out of the Amazon box my first thought was, "Oh, no, that's WAY too heavy to take along!" I'm still undecided about that, because I only travel with carry ons, and this book would take up the weight of a typical 2-4 other books (such as novels or lightweight travel guides).As for other books I'd recommend for Tokyo: my personal favorite single guidebook is The Rough Guide to Tokyo. If you will be walking and want to find your way, especially to addresses in Japan, then Tokyo City Atlas: A Bilingual Guide is an absolute necessity. Don't even bother with any of the printed-on-plastic maps, as they are too small to be useful for walking in Tokyo. Get the Atlas and find a way to carry it around (it will fit in a purse or backpack, but not a regular jeans pocket).Overall I'm satisfied with 29 Walks and would recommend it as the 3rd or 4th book for Tokyo, not first or second, and especially for those who are inveterate city walkers, who love armchair travel, who have been to Tokyo a few times already, or will be there longer than a week and don't mind its weight. Enjoy!

The authors packed this book with a lot of useful and interesting information. The history they discuss in each walk is, alone, worth the purchase price. I used this book on two trips to Tokyo and it was an invaluable guide. If I had one criticism, and it is a small one, I would like to see an update. Some of the attractions, such as the Tobacco and Salt Museum, have moved since this book was last published. I would not, however discount this review for that reason. Tokyo is a very dynamic and ever-changing city and this guide was still very helpful. I highly recommend it.

Its very good, lots of maps. But kind of boring. Gives a lot of history, but most of the places your looking at are contemporary buildings on sites of burnt down or destroyed buildings.

You get a lot of information condensed in a great way for your Japan trip. I recommend the book.

After living in Tokyo one year, this was the perfect book to take my knowledge of surrounding neighborhoods to the next level. It told me the meaning of street, bridge and park names, the significance of buildings I pass everyday, and pointed out landmarks and attractions that I would have missed, despite walking past many of them on a regular basis. As Americans suddenly illiterate in a world of kanji, this book explains what is behind the signs we can't read. It has allowed us, along with our children, to see how much there is to see and enjoy right here in our new backyard of Tokyo. With 3 more years to go, it is a treasure.