English map of major cities in Japan?

Hi,

Do you know of a good (accurate, fairly detailed) map of major cities in Japan?

I'm looking for a map with English street names. I'm looking for something for Kyoto and Tokyo at least. It should indicate subway stops.

The maps inside the Rough Guide to Japan show only small sections of the city. Most maps I've seen are either too highlevel (showing only major streets) or break up the city into many portions with no cohesive way of relating them. Or they are huge bulky things.

It would be very valuable if I could see the map before buying it. Does anyone know of shops in Toronto, Canada that sell maps like this?

I may even resort to printing something off of an online resource if I can find a way.

Thanks a lot!

Do you know of a good (accurate, fairly detailed) map of major cities in Japan?

http://maps.google.com/
http://www.mapfan.com/en/en_m.cgi

I'm looking for a map with English street names. I'm looking for something for Kyoto and Tokyo at least.

Street names are not in use in Tokyo and most other Japanese cities. Kyoto is an exception, where streets are actually named.

The maps distributed by the local tourist information desks also tend to be good. Especially Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka have good maps distributed by the official tourist information desks.

as uji said japan doesnt rly go by street names. you will getmajor street name but mostly things are based on the area n blocks etc

there is a jnto office in toronto at
481 University Avenue, Suite 306, Toronto,
Ontario M5G 2E9 Canada
itz just north of dundas on university

they may have maps there in english with the major tokyo area that i found very useful while i was there..i didnt get to go to the office in toronto n check it out but i did get a map at the jnto office in tokyo

The JNTO are really good.

EMail your local office outlining the destinations of your trip and they will send you all of the tourist maps for that area along with any other useful resources that they have available.

After sending an email all of the maps arrived at my house within 4 days. The best of it is that they are completely free and in most cases are more useful than the guide books and maps you see in the shops.

Thank you so much everyone, I will check JNTO out in particular.

Just wanted to add that as well as not really having street names as such, Tokyo has such a huge "centre" that it's not really possible to have a detailed map of the entire centre of Tokyo, other than one that would cover a whole wall.

Most maps of central Tokyo that are a practical size have more detailed sections for major stations like Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Ginza, Tokyo station area etc- this is far more useful than a detailed map of all of central Tokyo.

Hi,
In Tokyo in a lot of hotels you can get free maps of Tokyo. A map/booklet i realy like is one provided bij www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp
'The Tokyo Handy guide'. It has an overview of Tokyo with the major area's and than detailed maps of these area's including the major tourist attractions. You can also get larger (A4 size) maps of these area's (and all are also in English). I looked at there site but could not locate this booklet. But i am sure if you contact them they will sent you the information (if you can/did not get it from JNTO). They also have a 'handy map' of tokyo.
Most of the time other cities have also pretty good free tourist maps (in English). Most major train stations have an information boot where you can get maps and other tourist information. Before the trip the only good source is the internet with the links provided above (and do not forget Google Earth were you can see by the present of 'Panoramia photo's' where the interesting area's are.)
Have a nice trip
Butch