Basics: 1982, hardcover, 336 pages, 140 color plates, 537 species, range maps

If you intend to go birding in Japan and you cannot read Japanese, you’ll definitely want to get this book. There are few other decent options.

All the birds are well illustrated in a typical field guide format: Text and range maps on the left and plates on the right. Every bird is illustrated in multiple positions (flying vs. perched) or in multiple plumages (gender, age, season). The artistry is good, but still a notch below the best of the US and European guides. My only minor criticism is with the structure of the passerine wings in flight. They seem too stiff and slightly wider than they should be in comparison to their length; but, this are trivial.

The text is a concise paragraph that gives 2-4 lines for each of the description, voice, and status. The descriptions will be a little too brief orincomplete for some of the pipits and warblers. The map for each bird uses three different colors to denote seasonal ranges. These range maps do not focus on just Japan. Instead, they include Japan and the entire eastern half of Asia from Russia down to SE Asia and the Philippines. Consequently, the colored ranges are somewhat generalized over such a large area.

This book will serve you well in Japan, if you can find it; and, if you do, you’ll have to pay a high price (US$90+) for this book. It's been out of print since 1985. The Japanese version was still in print as of 2007. The Field Gide to the Birds of Korea (in English) will also cover much of Japan. It uses the same maps and has very similar artistry and text. This book is more readily available. ( )