Lonely Planet's Experience Japan $13.95 (RRP $34.99) + Delivery ($0 with Prime/ $59 Spend) @ Amazon AU

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Puglife on 27/12/2023 - 18:52 amazon.com.au (2394 clicks)
Last edited 27/12/2023 - 20:24 by 1 other user

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Previously $19.90, dropped to $13.95.
Seemed to go out of stock quickly last time so thought it deserved a post. Enjoy!

Pairs well with Japan travel book which is $22.25 and is $40 at most bookshops.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Lonely-Planet-Japan-Rebecca-Milner…

Although may be outdated as a new book is being released in March

Price History at CamelCamelCamel.

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• 

  Grale on 27/12/2023 - 19:54

  thanks OP!
  Got one!

• 

  Could Be Better on 27/12/2023 - 20:10

  +10

  I feel like travel books are redundant for Japan - it’s probably one of the most written about destinations on the internet and there are treasure troves of information online. Although I went back six months ago and many nice places that were relatively quiet 10 years ago are bustling now, not too many hidden gems left unless you go north

  • 

    brett-au on 27/12/2023 - 21:23

    +3

    I think it's value is for first time visitors. How to onsen/big bath. How to use the JR pass. Where to go month by month.

  • 

    Clear on 27/12/2023 - 21:59

    +5

    The crowds of Kyoto now vs 4 years ago has tripled. Fortunately there's a whole lot of untouched areas of the north and south without tourists. Surprisingly even Fukushima isn't tourist crowded. The reactor tour was incredible.

    • 

      brawndo on 27/12/2023 - 22:28

      +15

      Fukushima has glowing reviews

    • 

      Ventak on 28/12/2023 - 00:22

      I haven't been back since pre-Covid, but when I think back to Kiyomizu-dera and Fushimi Inari being pretty crowded already back then…I shudder to think how much more crowded it is now.

      But yes…go further beyond the golden route is a good tip.

      • 

        Clear on 29/12/2023 - 09:17

        -2

        I did Fushimi Inari at 12am and only saw about a dozen others. Go at 6am and the crowds are already there.

  • 

    helpme on 28/12/2023 - 01:44

    +1

    This is why I hate bloggers…nothing wrong with the beaten path.

    • 

      freesteakknives on 28/12/2023 - 12:39

      Travel guides are still valuable. You get a stack of vetted information in one place from people that are (hopefully) not pushing their own monetized links. I agree, there is nothing wrong with the beaten path. The Acropolis has had millions of visitors yet I still value my trip there. I am in Tokyo as I write this. Japan has really only opened to visitors relatively recently so there is a bit of a surge plus the value of the yen makes it relatively cheap. But in a city of 13 million a few more tourists is not going to make much of a dent.

      For getting around on public transport I recommend using the app. You can't get Suica cards at the moment because they've run out of chips and can't produce the cards. We are purchasing paper tickets but it's annoying to have to hold onto them to exit the station. They are tiny and flimsy and you can easily loose them. Also make sure that you can use some kind of translate program. Not as much English here as I would have expected even in large international areas.

      • 

        Geekomatic on 28/12/2023 - 18:29

        My son is heading to Japan in early Jan. Which transport app are you suggesting?

        • 

          Clear on 29/12/2023 - 09:21

          @Geekomatic: Navitime. Easily the best app for public transport in Japan as you can select what transport pass you have (i.e. JR Pass) and it'll give you the best route. As well as telling you what platform to go on, exit to take and so forth.

          They've since put a $21.99 30 day premium plan on the app that'll show the individual stations between your route but you can easily cross reference that with Google Maps.

        • 

          freesteakknives on 30/12/2023 - 00:08

          @Geekomatic: Sorry, don't know what app they were using but saw most commuters in Tokyo using their phones rather than paper tickets. In Tokyo it's handy to be close to a JR station on the central loop. (Yamanote line)
          My son had a JR pass that was handy as he was moving around a lot.

          This link describes the shortage of chips and digital alternatives.
          https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html.

          Recommend that you always carry some cash since a few places and a lot of vending machines don't support electronic payment.

• 

  Ninshin on 27/12/2023 - 21:08

  +2

  To be honest nowadays things change quickly enough that lonely planet guides are a bit out of date. You can get the gist of what’s somewhat going to be good there through travel blogs and then just use google maps or other apps like the Tokyo ramen app when you get there.

• 

  MrsJones on 27/12/2023 - 22:11

  Yeah will wait for the new one I think.

• 

  Could Be Better on 27/12/2023 - 23:14

  +9

  Also for to new travellers going to Japan, regarding accommodation and dining:

  Accommodation - Booking.com is really good for Japan now, gives you a really wide selection in most major cities. In more remote areas or ryokans I use Jalan (must use Japanese website + translate, there are more booking options and better prices than English version of site) and Rakuten Travel (same point as before). Sometimes you can find good listings on Google Accommodations and sometimes you cannot book online, only phone calls (especially mountain huts).

  Dining - Google Maps is decent, most Japanese people use Tabelog though which is similar to the old Urbanspoon. Ratings on this website are quite critical, so 3.8 can actually be a pretty good restaurant and 4 and over is exceptional generally. Also, use Japanese website and translate, English website is gimped once again…

  Hope those two tips above give people more options and choices while travelling.

  • 

    fightshatner on 28/12/2023 - 05:46

    +1

    That's really helpful, thanks. Heading over in early April for 4 weeks and can't wait.

• 

  grack on 28/12/2023 - 00:28

  +1

  Travelling in 2 weeks and just trying to wrap my head around what I should be doing and where I should be going and how

• 

  Bearlion on 28/12/2023 - 07:35

  +1

  A great way to experience Japan is to rent a small internet cafe space overnight and see how the bottom 3rd of society survive ;)

  • 

    sauce2k on 28/12/2023 - 08:16

    +1

    Yeh nah

• 

  RichieVn on 28/12/2023 - 09:02

  -2

  can aussies stop visiting Japan and go back to Bali instead? Don't need another place being trashed

  • 

    Blargman2001 on 28/12/2023 - 13:18

    It's not the Aussie's trashing Japan. Recent racism I've experienced from taxi drivers over there point to another group who's behaviours are unwanted (hint: the group I'm talking about are East Asian too)

• 

  shakman on 28/12/2023 - 09:43

  Thank you, I needed a Book for another destination and it was also on sale.

• 

  GoIdDigger on 28/12/2023 - 14:03

  -2

  It's boxing day sales period and a travel book hits top of the page. What's the appeal of the book versus what I can find online?

  • 

    GoIdDigger on 28/12/2023 - 18:32

    -2

    Crickets and downvotes

• 

  Jstrrrr on 28/12/2023 - 16:46

  Not sure why Japan is suddenly an extremely popular travel destination. Bought this to find out why. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

  • 

    freesteakknives on 30/12/2023 - 00:13

    It's close by and relatively cheap at the moment due to the exchange rate with the yen. Also since Vale took over some of the Australian ski resorts and dramatically increased costs, Japan is now a much more cost effective ski option than it used to be.