Water Walk in The Suburbs of Tokyo

I have to tell you about the best book I ever read about exploring Tokyo: Water Walks in The Suburbs of Tokyo by Sumiko Enbutsu and Mimi Le Bourgeois. It has been a great guide for me in exploring the the vast western suburbs surrounding Seibu Ikebukuro Line, of course including the area I live in; Shakujii. The very clear, step-by-step directions to exploring the different areas have been great help for me, especially in the early days when my Japanese was somewhat limited and I didn't quite have the confidence to venture too far away from the relative safety of train stations. The book details the history as well as the present of each area like no other source available in English, with a focus on following existing and historical waterways. Believe it or not; there are still waterways in Tokyo that have not been made unrecognizable after getting plastered in concrete!

You can read a good review of the book on TokyoQ, and you can sample some of the walks in full on TokyoQ. I ordered my copy by emailing the authors, and it cost 900 yen (plus postage). I have also seen the book on sale at Good Day Books in Ebisu.