Tokyo on Foot by Florent Chavouet

Tokyo on Foot was quite outside anything I have ever read/looked at before.  It is a graphic memoir, sketchbook with hand-drawn maps of Tokyo.  The author is a Frenchman – but if the book is a translation it is an excellent one.

If you are curious about Tokyo and want to get a flavour of the city without resorting to serious guide books, this book will suit you to a t.  Even better, if you are going to go there, take this book with you!

The book is quirky, humorous and presents Tokyo and its inhabitants with what seems to be both truth and kindness.

At the start of the book there is a hand drawn map showing you where all the neighbourhoods covered in the book are.  And then at the beginning of the section dealing with each neighbourhood there is a drawing of the local police station – the author ran into some issues with the police over a bicycle.  And then there is a map followed by endearing sketches and details of houses, apartments, the way youth dresses and all sorts of other stuff.

I dare you to get it from your library!