Having written over 10 guidebooks myself, I speak from experience when I say that working on these projects is a mixed blessing. Writing a first-time guide to a little-known part of the world, with the freedom to innovate with format and content, can be a rewarding task, but where there is a rigid template, it can be a thankless task. It's something of a miracle then, to find these two new guidebooks to Tokyo and Kyoto that seem freshly minted.
TOKYO: 29 Walks in the World's Most Exciting City, by John H. Martin and Phyllis G. Martin. Tuttle, 2012, 288 pp., $24.95/¥2,520 (paperback)
KYOTO: 29 Walks in Japan's Ancient Capital, by John H. Martin and Phyllis G. Martin. Tuttle, 2011, 376 pp., $24.95/¥2,520 (paperback)
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