Japan Railway & Road Travel Atlas by ITMB

Japan runs a two layer rail system: long distance Shinkansen bullet trains for speed, and slower local trains covering every stop along the way, with a third, Maglev based system still years off completion. Given the country's heavy investment in rail, including passes designed specifically for visitors, most travellers get around Japan by train rather than car, and this atlas is built around that reality. Fast trains are shown in red throughout and regular trains in blue, with all major highways also marked.

Printed at 1:600,000 across 107 pages, the larger scale keeps place names legible and points of interest easy to pick out, addressing a genuine challenge with mapping Japan given how densely packed its urban areas are. A generous selection of regional and city maps rounds out the atlas, including dedicated transit maps for Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Sapporo, each showing expressways, roads by classification and the various subway, tram and monorail networks specific to that city.

Perfect bound rather than stapled, the atlas folds down to a compact 21 x 14 x 0.8cm, making it easy to slip into a bag and pull out on the train. A well organised, rail focused reference for navigating Japan independently.

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