Must-See Japan: The complete insider's guide to seeing the best of Japan in one trip

* UPDATED FOR 2026 - Now with more content, new maps and the latest tips and advice! *

Must-See Japan (2026 Edition) is your up-to-date, concise and best-value guide for discovering the top sights, the most delicious foods and the essential must-do activities in this fascinating and complex country. Written by an expert who has been living in and traveling all around Japan since 2007, this book is full of inside information to help you discover some of the best things on offer, from popular tourist attractions to hidden gems even the locals don't know. Offering detailed itineraries for trips lasting a week or a month, this guide will help you plan every detail of your stay in Japan.

Must-See Japan includes:

• Insider tips and advice on when and where is best to visit, so you won’t miss a thing

• Original maps for every major location

• Practical information on everything from buying tickets, to entering hot springs, to Wi-Fi!

• Detailed itineraries for making the most of your Japanese adventure, whether it be from a couple of days to a few weeks

• Travel tips and clear explanations on how to get around, including rail passes, trains and buses

• Honest reviews of a variety of hotels, hot springs, restaurants and attractions

• Essential app recommendations and links to useful websites

• Straightforward advice on what to do and how to do it, drawing on the personal experience of the author, a long-term resident of Japan

• Quickly find the information you need with the active table of contents and logical layout

• Beautiful photos throughout

• Unbeatable value for a guide packed with a decade's worth of firsthand and trustworthy info

About the author

Tom Fay is a British author and freelance writer who has been living in Japan since 2007. He has written extensively about the outdoors and travel in Japan, both online and in print, for The Guardian, Lonely Planet, Forbes Travel Guide, The Japan Times and many other media outlets.

He has a keen interest in landscape photography, and is the author of numerous guidebooks including Hiking and Trekking in the Japan Alps and Mount Fuji (Cicerone Press, 2019), Kyoto (Lonely Planet, 2024), Pocket Kyoto & Osaka (Lonely Planet, 2024) and Hokkaido (Bradt, 2024), the latter of which is the first and most comprehensive English-language guidebook to Japan's beautiful northern island.