Japan at 1:1, 200, 000 on an indexed, waterproof & tear-resistant road map with topographic & tourist information, published by Reise Know-How as part of their highly acclaimed World Mapping Project. The map is double-sided to provide the best balance between a good scale & a convenient size sheet, with a generous overlap; Tokyo & Nagoya are included on both sides. The southern islands including Okinawa are on an inset. Names of the islands & main towns are in both scripts, with names of smaller towns & villages, provinces & geographical features given in the Latin alphabet only. Road & rail networks are easy to see on a clear base which shows the country’s topography by altitude colouring with contours, spot heights, mountain passes, & names of mountain ranges. National parks & protected areas, including maritime parks are marked. Road network

Includes:: selected minor local roads & shows intermediate driving distances on motorways & main roads. Railways indicate the high speed Shinkansen line & ferry connections are also shown. Internal administrative boundaries are shown with names of the provinces. Symbols highlight various places of interest: picturesque towns & villages, UNESCO world heritage sites, temples & shrines, special gardens, caves & hot springs, winter sport areas, etc. The map has a latitude/longitude grid at intervals of 1º & an index of localities. Map legend

Includes:: English.



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The southern part of Japan on an indexed, double-sided map at 1:670, 000 from ITMB with a street plan of central Tokyo plus enlargements showing in greater detail the Tokyo Bay with Yokohama & Narita, the Kyoto
- Nara area, & the Osaka
- Kobe area. Coverage of Honshu starts north of Tokyo at Toyama & Nagano, with the western parts of Honshu & Shikoku plus Kyushu shown on the reverse. The reverse side also

Includes:: several panels covering Okinawa & the Ryukyu Islands, plus the other outlaying island groups: Senkaku, Sakishima, Daito, Amami, Danjo & Satsunan (a small map of the whole country shows locations of these groups). All place names are in the Latin alphabet only. The map has altitude colouring to show the topography with peak names & heights, plus marking for volcanoes & national parks. Road network is graded into five types from expressways with tolls to secondary roads, with driving distances shown on selected routes. Railways distinguish between ordinary lines & the bullet train routes. Ferry routes are shown & local airports are marked. The map also shows internal administrative boundaries with names of the provinces. Symbols highlight various places of interest & additional notes provide more information about selected sights. The map has latitude & longitude lines at intervals of 1° & each side has a separate index.A large inset provides a clear street plan of central Tokyo at 1:15, 000 with plenty of tourist information, including names of selected hotels, embassies, important buildings, etc. Three urban areas are also presented on enlargements: Tokyo Bay with Yokohama & the Narita International Airport (1:400, 000), the Kyoto
- Nara area (1:230, 000), & the Osaka
- Kobe area (1:300, 000) – all indicate places of interest, etc.





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This is a fresh & surprising account of Japan`s culture from the `opening up` of the country in the mid-nineteenth century to the present.` How much I admired it, what a lot I learned from it &, above all, how very much I enjoyed it.. . Masterly.` Neil Mac Gregor It is told through the eyes of people who greeted this change not with the confidence & grasping ambition of Japan`s modernizers & nationalists, but with resistance, conflict, distress. We encounter writers of dramas, ghost stories & crime novels where modernity itself is the tragedy, the ghoul & the bad guy; surrealist & avant-garde artists sketching their escape; rebel kamikaze pilots & the put-upon urban poor; hypnotists & gangsters; men in desperate search of the eternal feminine & feminists in search of something more than state-sanctioned subservience; Buddhists without morals; Marxist terror groups; couches full to bursting with the psychological fall-out of breakneck modernization. These people all sprang from the soil of modern Japan, but their personalities & projects failed to fit. They were `dark blossoms`: both East-West hybrids & home-grown varieties that wreathed, probed & sometimes penetrated the new structures of mainstream Japan. ...

This book describes & defines what ‘ Japan style’ is. It explores specific achievements in Japanese art & architecture, but also offers an in-depth analysis of the whole of Japanese culture, its vision of the world & of humankind. ‘ Japan style’ is something recognizable to everyone: a beautifully arranged flower, an elegant piece of calligraphy or a simple rock garden, but it is also something that is very difficult to define. This book gives the reader the tools to fully understand Japanese art & culture. As Gian Carlo Calza says, the path to understanding & appreciating Japanese culture is slow & long, & in order to develop the right sensibility on the journey, it is imperative that the reader acquires the necessary means. With this in mind, the author reveals & shares his experience in & knowledge of Japanese culture, defining the essence of Japanese style. The book is divided into three main sections. In the first one (‘ Irregular Beauty’), the author delineates the different aspects of Japanese culture & draws interesting connections between art, architecture, religion, philosophy & mythology. The second part of the book (‘A Feeling of Nature’) follows a chronological path from ancient times to the present explaining more specifically how to interpret the different forms of Japanese art (literature, painting, sculpture, etc.). The third part of the book (` Art Masters`) contains short monographs on Japanese masters in the history of Japanese art & culture. Calza’s comprehensive & insightful text is accompanied by 150 full-colour images of a great variety of examples from Japanese art & culture, examples of which you can see to the right of this page. ...

Travellers Japan takes you to the heart of a country that is a beguiling mix of opposites
- old & new, east & west; the most modern
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This entertaining & endlessly surprising book takes us on an exploration into every aspect of Japanese society from the most public to the most intimate. A series of meticulous investigations gradually uncovers the multi-faceted nature of a country & people who are even more extraordinary than they seem. Our journey encompasses religion, ritual, martial arts, manners, eating, drinking, hot baths, geishas, family, home, singing, wrestling, dancing, performing, clans, education, aspiration, sexes, generations, race, crime, gangs, terror, war, kindness, cruelty, money, art, imperialism, emperor, countryside, city, politics, government, law & a language that varies according to whom you are speaking. Clear-sighted, persistent, affectionate, unsentimental & honest
- Alan Macfarlane shows us Japan as it has never been seen before.
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From the present-day street life of Ginza, to the heights of Mount Fuji in the company of 16th-century traveller & poet Basho: the most recent addition of Eland`s through writers` eyes series brings together a chorus of voices from Japan & across the globe. Detailed introductions stemming from Elizabeth Ingram`s own experiences as a traveller, (later a resident) & journalist in Japan, develop a lively & intimate portrait of towns & provinces, making it an ideal companion. A library in the palm of your hand: extracts of prose, poetry & novels from a rich variety of writers, including Jan Morris, Nicolas Bouvier, Oswald Wynd, Peter Popham, Basho, Yasunari Kawabata, Alan Booth, Futabei Shimei, Angela Carter, Joao Rodrigues & Mary Crawford Fraser. It is a source book for those visiting Japan for the first time & for expatriates. One must never forget that for all the talk of the new Asia, the Japanese economy is still bigger than that of India & China combined. ...

Indexed A5 paperback travel atlas of Japan at 1:850, 000 from ITMB, with over 27 pages of regional & city enlargements, including Tokyo city, Kyoto city & more. Main mapping shows national highways, major & secondary roads, as well as ferry routes, airports, shinkansen, privatised & Japanese railway lines. Administrative & international boundaries are indicated; points of interest such as national parks, temples, resorts, & heritage sights are marked with a variety of symbols. Topography is shown through altitude colouring, with selected spot heights also. The rest of the atlas

Includes:: regional & city mapping at varying scales, including: Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, & Kobe; city maps show expressways, major, secondary, & minor roads, as well as rail lines & stops for multiple rail networks, such as subways, shinkansen, trams, monorail etc. City maps also include district names & zones highlighted in light grey. Subway maps are also included for each city enlarged in the atlas.

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Road Atlas of Japan from the Tokyo based publishers Tuttle presenting the country divided in 11 colour-coded sections, each offering a selection of street plans, detailed road maps for most visited areas, plus touring maps of larger regions. All highlight numerous places of interest & various facilities, including on street plans & on the more detailed maps hotels & restaurants. Street plans also show names and/or numbers of individual wards or municipalities, & of metro/railway stations. One combined index cover all the sections &

Includes:: places of interest. All place names are in the Latin alphabet. Map legend & names of sights, etc, are in English. The 11 sections cover:
- Central Tokyo on 16 pages of detailed street plans plus a map of Greater Tokyo.- Mount Fuji & Around Tokyo, including plans and/or maps of Yokohama, Kawasaki, Mt Fuji, Hakone, Izu Peninsula, etc.- Central Honshu with maps & plans of Nagoya, Kanazawa, Noto Peninsula, etc.- Kyoto with detailed plans & road maps of the city, plus Takao Village, etc.- Kansai Area with maps & plans of Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Lake Biwa, etc.- Hiroshima & Western Honshu including maps & plans of eight more towns & a map of Shodo Isl&.- Northern Honshu with 16 maps & plans.- Hokkaido, including a plan of Sapporo & maps of the island’s national parks.- Shikoku with several maps & plans.- Kyushu with plans of Nagasaki & 8 more towns & a map of the Aso area.- Okinawa & the south-western islands.


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Japan in the National Geographic Traveler guide series, produced by America’s leading travel publishers, exploring a range of cities, regions & countries worldwide & using the expertise & tradition of National Geographic to provide a comprehensive survey of each destination. Each of the guides in the series draws upon National Geographic’s rich history of travel experience & is researched by authors familiar with the area. Whilst the content is influenced by an American editorial style, individual titles are still accessible to a non-American audience, with a combination of practical guidance & detailed information included in each guide. The series also relies upon the extensive image libraries of National Geographic to present a rich visual image of each destination. Individual National Geographic Traveler titles are organised uniformly, allowing readers to access information quickly & easily. Introductory sections provide information on Charting your Trip, with details of getting there & around & a History & Culture chapter profiling history, food & drink, land & landscape, flora & fauna & arts & literature. Chapter are arranged geographically by region, with notable cities & areas principally describing the main sites & attractions, with further information on directions, history & practicalities. There are also a number of individual features & insider tips throughout each guide covering subjects such as walking tours, local culture, driving tours, recommended local experiences & in-depth thematic short histories of the culture & histories of individual regions. A Travelwise section at the back of each guide provides essential practical information on when to go, what to take, further reading, getting there & around, local etiquette, media, holidays, money matters, religion, smoking, time differences, opening times, travellers with disabilities & accommodation. Restaurants & hotels are listed with brief descriptions & information on prices, location, contact details & facilities for the relevant regional chapters in the guide. ...