Publishers Weekly – July 29, 2019

Travel Books

there are more than 150,000 restaurants in the city, “It is actu-

ally impossible to write a restaurant guide for Tokyo.” Instead,

he’s produced a book that reflects his culinary “obsessions and

hang-ups,” he writes; topics include how to consume yakitori

(“Always eat the chicken straight off the skewer”) and the cul-

ture of an izakaya (“a temple devoted to the art of grazing.”)

The book, part of the Food Lovers series originally published

in Swedish by Natur & Kultur, has been translated into English

for the first time (forthcoming guides in the series focus on Paris

and Rome). “We really loved the graffiti design and the authors’

focus on discovering new food trends in each destination,” says

Hardie publisher Melissa Kayser. Cramby covers Tokyo’s ramen

and sushi establishments but also devotes a chapter to “the

hipster generation’s embrace of folksy Japanese curry.”

Keys to the Country

Guidebook publishers are prepping new and revamped edi-

tions in time to meet the expected crush of visitors. Moon

Japan (Jan. 2020), written by Tokyo journalist Jonathan

DeHart, is the publisher’s first Japan guidebook in 25 years and

was on the wish list for more than a decade, says Grace Fujimoto,

v-p of acquisitions at Moon.

Because of Fujimoto’s family ties to the country, getting the

book just so was especially important to her. “It was really hard

for me to find the right author,” she says. “Jonathan’s under-

standing and appreciation of the culture was everything I

wanted.” The book guides travelers to a range of experiences,

offering suggestions for those who’d like to spend a contempla-

tive night in a countryside temple, for instance, as well as those

interested in experiencing the hyperefficiency of a capsule hotel

in the heart of Tokyo.

Wallpaper City Guide Osaka (Phaidon, Jan. 2020), which was

last published in 2014, is aimed at design-conscious travelers,

steering its readers to the most rigorously of-the-moment

restaurants, nightclubs, and art spaces.

Lost Guides author Anna Chittenden hopes to appeal to the

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