What's the best online guide to Tokyo?

I am interested to hear your thoughts on which is the best online guide to Tokyo and why?

Each of them is great, but for me japan-guide.com is the best because it covers extensive areas, such as Oume and Takao.

Also it does not forcus only the city part. Taking Shinjuku for example, it refers to Shinjuku-gyoen and Kumano jinja as well as Kabukicho and Skyscraper district, department stores and electronics stores.

List of places is also great as you can check place not only from the name of towns but also pick up some from the catetories (parks, temples, etc.)

Actually it was a great help when I showed around a friend of mine from Europe.


I'm interested to hear what other members' opinion.

Just to let people know, I selected the sites based on their position in Google.com based on the search term "Tokyo". I also added JREF and wikitravel.
With regard to , I don't think it has anywhere near enough information on sightseeing. It does have some useful information on social activities.
There is no doubt japan-guide.com has been the benchmark for the last year or so, but http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/ has some more detailed information in a few areas, but it is really difficult to find and does not cover enough areas. They do produce a good map and basic hand book.
Tokyo - Wikipedia has some good information, but is not really laid out in a format for a travel guide. It also lacks the detail of japan-guide.com.
I think you might be surprised by the extent and depth of information now on http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/. We have significantly improved this section in the last three months. In particular our Tokyo map (http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/tokyomap.htm) sets a new standard.

awww! craig my website didn't make the cut TT

But ill let you know I started out using Japan-guide 7 years ago. But latley I found it very difficult to navigate throuh all the advertising. And have not used it in a few years because of this. Recently I have been browsing your site and have been happy with the layout and such.

As for my own its still small so I'll have to wait to make your cut haha

JREF of course ! (my baby is more beautiful than yours )

We are the only one to have an interactive Flash map of Tokyo. We have the most neighbourhoods listed, the most pictures (gallery included) and the most theme guides...

Oh My God !!!!!! ?????

Maciamo said:

JREF of course ! (my baby is more beautiful than yours )

We are the only one to have an interactive Flash map of Tokyo. We have the most neighbourhoods listed, the most pictures (gallery included) and the most theme guides...

Click to expand...

I agree with something Maciamo says??? Calling my shrink right now to have head examined, LOL. No ifs-ands-or-buts , JREF is the best on the internet by far!

Uncle Frank

Sparky said:

awww! craig my website didn't make the cut TT

But ill let you know I started out using Japan-guide 7 years ago. But latley I found it very difficult to navigate throuh all the advertising. And have not used it in a few years because of this. Recently I have been browsing your site and have been happy with the layout and such.

As for my own its still small so I'll have to wait to make your cut haha

Click to expand...

As I said, the list was based very much on what Google rank as the top guides. Although I was surprised that JREF did not come up in the top twenty for the simple search for "Tokyo".

Sparky is there much content on your site on Tokyo? I had a look and could not see much.

Maciamo said:

We are the only one to have an interactive Flash map of Tokyo. We have the most neighbourhoods listed, the most pictures (gallery included) and the most theme guides...

Click to expand...

Yes, JREF's maps are one of the best around. Maps are the one area I have really struggled to find a good solution to. People want so many different things from a map; some want a simple one they can print out and take with them, others want great detail so they can drill down to street level detail.

While our main map http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/tokyomap.htm is almost useless for printing out, it now has over 140 interactive points of interest. I am still not happy with this as a solution, but we are going to continue to develop it.

JREF definitely has the most neighbourhoods listed which is probably of greater benefit to a long stay visitor to Tokyo. Japanese Lifestyle tends to have more detail about the key tourist destinations. This is more like the typical printed guide book.

JREF also has more pictures, but like Japanese Lifestyle they really need to be better integrated into the travel guide sections so it is seamless for the reader. Clearly the fact that neither of our web sites have done this says how hard it is to do.

My intention of this thread was to find out from end users what they felt were the key advantages and disadvantages of the various sites, but unfortunately it only really seems to be web masters that are commenting.

I still find the Google results for the term "Tokyo" interesting. Clearly Japan-Guide is way out in front at position number one, I am not surprised that wikipedia is at number two, but how did Planet Tokyo get into number three. They don't really have that much content on Tokyo, the only thing I can really see going for them is "Tokyo" in their domain name. As I mentioned earlier, I am surprised that JREF is not in the top twenty given the high traffic volume it receives. (Of course the bulk of the traffic is generated by the top three or four positions, so the difference between position 18 and 60 really makes not difference).

whats up skip said:

Sparky is there much content on your site on Tokyo? I had a look and could not see much.

Click to expand...

Not as of yet It7s only been up for 2 months and I am a one man team lol I'm getting there though! I've got a lot of dirt on Tokyo coming soon! Just gotta find the time to get it up! Enjoy everyone
I'm gonna go check out this mao you guys are talking about I love maps especialy those ones that show detail down to every single house you can get them at any bookstore in Japan. In those brown drawer thingys haha

I like the shopping guide at SuperFuture.com

Maciamo said:

JREF of course ! (my baby is more beautiful than yours )

We are the only one to have an interactive Flash map of Tokyo. We have the most neighbourhoods listed, the most pictures (gallery included) and the most theme guides...

Click to expand...

I also have to agree. Still, you can't beat an old-fashioned paper map where you can mark it up and highlight places of interest. JNTO is the best for (free) maps.

I still think that blogging sites like Jean Snow's, Momus's Click Opera, and Marxy's Neomarxisme blog are important to get an idea about what is actually HAPPENING in Japan, rather than just statistics & maps, and how much you might expect to pay for accommodations here and there.

I'm also a fan of the Metropolis magazine, which also is a great guide to what is going on in Japan nightlife, art, & music culture.

I think you'll get a better idea about the "real Japan", whatever those words mean to you reading some of these blogs... But certainly, I think many of those sites are good, and it does say something that JREF is the ONLY forum on Japan in which I actively participate, due largely to its members.

whats up skip said:

With regard to http://www.ghettocitiesclothing.com, I don't think it has anywhere near enough information on sightseeing. It does have some useful information on social activities.

Click to expand...

You do realise that this site is a vanity website, generally designed to report on the sexual escapades of a single individual, and not an 'information-site' per say... Just FYI...

I think the JNTO has excellent pdf guides, including one on "walks in Tokyo", which is really comprehensive and useful for visitors with enough time.

sanji