Tourism in Japan has boomed since the country eased its coronavirus-related entry restrictions in 2022, and it welcomed a record 20 million international travelers in the first half of 2025, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. While Western tourists make up only a fraction of that figure, their numbers are on the rise, with visits from the U.S., for instance, up by more than 25% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
Many of those travelers tend to stick to what’s known as the Golden Route, which covers Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and points in between. Those spots are popular for a reason, but forthcoming books also encourage exploration beyond the more established stops.
Japan pop
“You’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who hasn’t got Japan on their bucket list,” says Siobhan Warwicker, travel editor at Rough Guides. “While Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka are embedded in the public psyche because of pop culture and social media, more adventurous travelers want a more ‘local’ experience.” Mini Japan (Dec.), the latest in the publisher’s pocket-size series, covers a lot of ground despite its modest page count, with sections about sustainability, LGBTQ+-friendly travel, and budget travel alongside the usual guidebook fast facts.
“People have this impression that Japan is a prohibitively expensive country—that you can’t go backpacking there or spontaneously travel around by train and see what happens,” Warwicker says. “You can treat Japan as an adventurous destination; it’s not just for high-end, premium travelers.”
Last year’s comparatively strong U.S. dollar and significant government investment in infrastructure, such as affordable hotels and allowances for social accommodations and short-term rentals, made the country more accessible to more people, says Piers Pickard, Lonely Planet’s VP of print and publisher. In 2024, LP’s Japan sold more than twice as many copies as its next-bestselling destination guide, Ireland, according to Pickard.
Two forthcoming LP titles, Best Bike Rides Japan (Oct.) and Best Road Trips Japan (Oct.), focus attention on road-runners who want to experience the archipelago away from the tourist centers. “Most visitors just scratch the surface of Honshu,” Pickard says. “We’re giving people the tools to explore the other islands, which can sometimes be daunting.” Both books detail excursions of varying lengths, from day trips to multi-week itineraries; Best Bike Rides also includes information about terrain and bike rental. Travel habits changed during and post-Covid, Pickard notes, and “a lot of them have stuck. There’s a sense of taking things slower and being more immersive.”
DK Travel, in addition to updating its flagship Japan guide, has two new Japan-related books on its fall list: Japan Travel Journal (Nov.), an illustrated planner with packing lists, budget trackers, and space for three weeks’ worth of diary entries; and Ultimate Japan (Sept.) by Rebecca Hallett, which suggests 100 “must-do” experiences, including “bow to the sacred deer of Nara” and “unleash your inner otaku in Akihabara.”
There are sections for foodies, techies, and outdoor enthusiasts, and an “Iconic Japan” chapter that covers the classics (think Mt. Fuji, sushi, and the bullet train). “We’re not saying, ‘don’t do this stuff’; we’re saying, ‘add to it,’ ” Hallett says. Her favorite activity? Drain spotting. “The manhole covers have beautiful designs on them. It’s one of those little things that makes the experience of being in Japan just that bit more exciting. We carefully decided what we did and didn’t want to include in the book. It’s not going to tell you the entry price or opening hours. Each entry is meant to be inspirational.”
Found in translation
Anyone who’s ever Kondo’d their space or questioned whether a possession sparks joy knows organizing consultant and TV personality Marie Kondo, who is something of an ambassador for her home country to the West. In Letters from Japan (trans. by Marie Iida; Crown, Oct.), Kondo illuminates the cultural influences that have inspired her KonMari philosophy. “She wrote this book in reaction to the things that so many people would ask her about,” says Madhulika Sikka, VP and executive editor at Crown Publishing Group. “Her essays give you a little window into all sorts of things—onigiri, onsens, manga, pottery.”
In an essay about Shinto shrines, Kondo describes her time as a miko, or shrine maiden. She recalls her beloved brother’s dedication to fandoms—and his messy room—and writes about the exactness of the tea ceremony. “The book is like an appetizer; you get exposed to a broad range of things,” Sikka says. “You might be like, I really want to go to a Japanese garden, or, I want to try onigiri at 7-11. Or you might notice that everything is cute, kawaii. I think it conveys the Japanese aesthetic in all forms.”
Lia Tee moved from Australia to Japan to teach English and launch a fashion business, and became an expert in traditional Japanese spa culture for a very personal reason: she lives with eczema. “Because of the skin sensitivity, I’ve been a proponent of onsens’ healing benefits,” she says. “When I was stressed out and working, I traveled to onsen to relax, soothe, and just really be in nature.” In Onsen and Ryokan of Japan (Gestalten, Oct.), Tee shares her favorite hot springs and traditional inns across all 47 prefectures. “I focus mainly on boutique properties—kominika [historic timber farm houses], machiya [Kyoto townhouses], and minshuku [Japanese-style bed-and-breakfasts]. People who visit Japan would love to experience an onsen ryokan, but they don’t know where to start, or where to look.”
These family-run establishments typically aren’t on third-party booking sites and might not even have websites, Tee explains. “Onsen culture is deeply integral to the Japanese way of life. I introduce philosophical concepts like onsen toji, a healing practice in which people would stay in an onsen for three months to rest their bodies and cleanse their souls. I hope my book will provide people a first step into this world. I understand how intimidating it is to get naked with a whole bunch of strangers.”
Like others PW spoke with, Tee hopes to highlight underexplored corners of the land of the rising sun. “I want travelers to know that there’s so much more out there of Japan that’s waiting for them.”
Pooja Makhijani is a writer and editor in New Jersey.
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A version of this article appeared in the 08/11/2025 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Tokyo Drift
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