The Japan Guide Book

Japan's economic and population growth during the twentieth century created a fertile environment for building. Combined with its commitment to advanced technology this led to the construction of a multitude of significant architectural projects. The result is a country rich in contemporary architecture that combines both Japan's stylist history and its cutting-edge technology.

Architectural historian Botond Bognar, author of New Japanese Architecture and Contemporary Japanese Architecture, focuses primarily on buildings built after World War II in the latest addition to our guidebook series, The Japan Guide. Bognar presents over 260 major projects (along with brief entries for 360 other buildings), arranged geographically (see the table of contents).

The Japan Guide contains the work of nearly 150 architects (listing of projects by architect available), featuring Takefumi Aida, Tadao Ando, Hiromi Fujii, Hiroshi Hara, Itsuko Hasegawa, Kunihiko Hayakawa, Kazuhiro Ishii, Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito, Atsushi Kitagarawa, Kisho Kurokawa, Kunio Maekawa, Fumihiko Maki, Katsuo Shinohara, Seiichi Shirai, Shin Takamatsu, Minoru Takeyama, Kenzo Tange, Team Zoo and Riken Yamamoto, among others.

The Japan Guide, like every title in our guidebook series, includes historical descriptions, theoretical analyses, and practical visitor information about each project. Travelers to Japan will find the thirty maps to be indispensable, and the 430 drawings and photographs that illustrate the entries make this an invaluable resource for students and armchair travelers. Professor Bognar's Introduction provides general advice to navigating both the book and the streets of Japan.