Hello,
i am going to Japan in a week and a half with my mom and fiance. My mom is Japanese and we will be staying with her brother in Chiba (right outside of Tokyo) along with some side trips to Kyoto and Mt Fuji.

Since we will be staying in Chiba for most of the time, my fiance (who has never been out of the US!) and I will be doing a lot of day trips to Tokyo. Does anyone recommend a good guide book for Tokyo with some neat walks? I have a big Japan guidebook, but if i can find one limited to Tokyo only, i can carry it with me easier during our day trips.
Thank you!
Becca

Try the JNTO website, www.jnto.go.jp look for the practical travel guides. They are PDF files that you can print out. I found the info in there to be very good, much better than any single guidebook in my opinion. And it's free!

You can call the JNTO (see below) and ask for info about the places you are visiting and for your specific interests (neat walks, etc.). Their info is excellent (and free) as stevecat said.

The Chiba professional baseball team has a 6 game home stand July 18 thru 23, all are 6:15 PM starts.

JNTO phone numbers in the U.S. (according to the jnto website):
New York (212) 757-5640
Chicago (312) 222-0874
San Francisco (415) 292-5686
Los Angeles (213) 623-1952

The July Grand Sumo Tournament is in Nagoya and ends on the 20th.

If your Mom can help with reading Japanese, I suggest you visit a bookstore once you get to Japan. There're numerous travel books and magazines for the locals. As domestic tourism is huge in Japan. They offer much more local information and guides. Usually they have very good photos and maps as well.

Bonjour Beccad

I can recommend 2 books:

Foot-Loose in Tokyo: The Curious Traveler's Guide to the 29 Stages of the Yamanote Line
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...278584-4912158

Toyko for free
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...ks&n=67658

Unless it has been recently reprinted, the first one may contain out of date informations, although it still gives a good overview of many places to visit, especially in the "shitamachi" parts of Tokyo.

The second one is a must and quite a lot of its content is unknown by the Tokyoites themselves.

In addition, go to the Tourist Information Center (TIC) either in Narita or in Yurakucho (address at www.jnto.go.jp) for free maps, leaflets, and informations on what's on at the time you're there.

The information center of Taito Ward (opposite the Kaminarimon gate in Asakusa) holds lots of informations on activities, museums, sights and attractions in the area.

Three books I recommend are:

"Gateway to Japan" by Kinoshita. Has a good section specific to Tokyo, lots of info on the culture, architecture, history, etc., of Japan. This guide book is my bible wherever I go in the country.

Rick Kennedy's "Little Adventures in Tokyo" has some fun and unusual things to do.

"Japan Solo" published by Kodansha books has great walking tours. It again covers all of japan, but has some good Tokyo info.

Depending on the style of binding, I tend to either pull out whole chapters or xerox sections of guide books. I put them in a lightweight binder and take only the sections needed when I'm out and about. You can highlight, underline add dates and notes in the margins. When you get home, you'll have a sort of summary (brief, and very detailed) of your trip all done!

We traveled Japan last year and liked the Time Out guide to Tokyo which is geared for younger people. You can get it through their website www.timeout.com (which also has certain sections of the guide itself available on line and good information about events going on while you are there) or probably at a good travel bookstore or www.amazon.com. Also, I agree with the above posters that the Japanese government tourism website is good too. If you live in Chicago or New York (other cities maybe) too you can go in person to the local office of the Japanese tourist bureau and get brochures there too.