[.ca] Tokyo Rail and Road Atlas: A Bilingual Guide (ISBN 4770017812)

Useful but not complete.:
I gave up trying to get around with this atlas because not all of Tokyo is covered in the street maps and I found myself wandering out of their limits too often. The street maps that are included are excellent; they are highly detailed and include major buildings, but there is no key linking the individual maps. The rail maps are also excellent and extremely useful. I just wish the whole thing was a more complete atlas. If it's not reasonable to include street maps of every inch of the city there should be a level of detail in between the highway (macro) map and the street (micro) maps. If you are taking a short trip to Tokyo you don't really need this atlas, unless you are a map nut like me, the maps in the travel books are adequate for most people. If you find yourself needing this much detail head for the nearest Police booth.

Great Maps but be careful...:
I currently am in Tokyo and have been for 3 months and have use used this map book extensively throughout the Metro area. I happen to have the first edition (1993) that I bought in the US. I have tried to see if this book has been updated but Amazon.com is unclear about this - leading me to believe it has i in fact, not been updated. There are entire trains and subway lines not listed because they are new since 93. I was on the tiny Tamagawa line yesterday and two of the station names have been changed! Seems like some residents didn't like living means in front of a cemetary (Tamabochi-mae). Other than the old edition this is a great map book , especially for the essential area of train/subway travel. domo.

Definitely worth owning:
This resource is really quite good. Very thorough. The inclusion of both English and Japanese is invaluable, though there are certainly other publications that use both. For the price, portability, and ease of use, this is hard to beat, and a valuable addition to my own small stock of travel books.

A Good resource - but not Awesome:
I live in the Tokyo area, and this guide is useful for riding the trains, but I think they could organize it better. It takes a little getting used to. The train maps are divided up by companies and types of trains not by areas... so you get really confused at first. Buy this book for the train maps, not the street maps. I wouldn't rely on these street maps (which take up a majority of the book) for driving. This book was recommended to us. We also looked through several English atlases like this one, and this seemed to be the best one available in English.

A Good resource - but not Awesome:
I live in the Tokyo area, and this guide is useful for riding the trains, but I think they could organize it better. It takes a little getting used to. The train maps are divided up by companies and types of trains not by areas... so you get really confused at first. Buy this book for the train maps, not the street maps. I wouldn't rely on these street maps (which take up a majority of the book) for driving. This book was recommended to us. We also looked through several English atlases like this one, and this seemed to be the best one available in English....