Explore “A Place of Delicious Contrasts” with Lonely Planet's New Japan Travel Guide

Nobody knows Japan like Lonely Planet. With 178 detailed and easy-to-use maps, expanded activities, itineraries and cultural coverage, the 100% researched and updated Lonely Planet Japan is the most in-depth guide to Japan available.

Coordinating Author and Kyoto resident Chris Rowthorn writes in his introduction: 'First and foremost, Japan is a place of delicious contrasts: ancient temples and futuristic cities; mist-shrouded hills and lightning-fast bullet trains; kimono-clad geisha and suit-clad businesspeople; quaint thatch-roofed villages and pulsating neon urban jungles. This peculiar synthesis of the modern and the traditional is one of the things that makes travel in Japan such a fascinating experience.'

All Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. The new edition of Lonely Planet Japan is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give travellers the information they need to make the most of their trip, such as:

• An architecture chapter leading visitors from ancient temples to modern towers

• Reliable advice from resident and specialist authors – and locals

• Japanese script in text and on maps, to make navigation a cinch.

With more maps and language content than any other Japan guidebook, this 11th edition unveils so much of the country, including:

• The very best of shopping in Tokyo – 'Tokyo is not as notoriously expensive as it once was, and shopping is one of the great pastimes of local residents. Shopping may not normally interest you, but the city’s seductive wares may sway you.'

• Skiing in the Japan Alps – 'Japan’s best ski resorts are found in the Japan Alps region of Central Honshū (mostly in Nagano and Niigata prefectures) and on the northern island of Hokkaidō. The former lays claim to the highest mountains; the latter lays claim to the deepest and most regular snow in the country.'

• Soaking in idyllic onsen – 'The Japanese word for a hot spring is onsen, and there are more than 3000 of them in the country, more than anywhere else on earth – it’s like Iceland on steroids.'

• Trekking to Kansai’s feudal castles – 'Kansai is the heart of Japan. It is here that a truly distinctive Japanese culture came into being, and with it, those things that so many of us associate with Japan.'

• Slurping soba at Kyūshū food stalls – 'Let the aromas and the chatty conversation guide you.'

• Free extracts are available on request

• Authors are available for interview

• Free images from the book are available on request

For further information or review copies please contact:

Adam Bennett: adam.bennett@lonelyplanet.com.au

Media and Communications Manager

Phone +61 3 8379 8000 Web: lonelyplanet.com