Recommended books on Japan

Will Ferguson is a Canadian travel writer and English teacher who takes a drunken bet and embarks on a journey from the south to the north of Japan. He follows the cherry blossom, hitchhiking the entire way. Without a doubt, this book had me laughing aloud on the long Seishin 18 Kippu train rides.
An excellent guide for hitchhikers and budget travelers in Japan, includes advice on etiquette and strategies for hitchhiking in Japan. Helpful hitchhiking itineraries given with a Japan road atlas in English. An invaluable addition to your rucksack.
An extremely useful Japanese phrase book, This came in handy time and time again on our own trip in Japan. Perfect pocket size.
Lonely Planet’s Hiking Guide is well-written and comprehensive. The routes detailed here are fantastic, with useful info on mountain huts you can stay in. We used this guide for snow-covered hikes near Sapporo, walking in Daisetzu-zan, Yakushima, Aso-san and many more.
This is the latest (fourth) edition of the Japan Rough Guide. We used the third edition for our trip and found it very useful for all basic travel information.
A book of photos of some of the more beautiful Japanese Zen Gardens in Kyoto. This book will surely inspire you to visit this incredible city and see some of these karesansui with your own eyes.