[/floatl]Asahi: Travel guide resists free online rivals -- for now
Once considered a bible for domestic travelers, the cumbersome JTB Timetable has plummeted in popularity, thanks largely to the emergence of free rail and plane schedules available on the Internet and mobile phone handsets. Sales of the timetable, which has over the years inspired train buffs, rovers and even mystery writers, have slumped from 2 million copies in November 1986 to 150,000 copies for recent editions. Although sales are a fraction of two decades ago, the timetable still sells enough copies to make its continued publication worthwhile..."I suppose the reason the timetable has continued to be sought after is the Japanese characteristic of being obsessed with punctuality," said Yoshio Kimura, a 53-year-old former editor in chief of the timetable. In May, the JTB Timetable will mark a milestone with its 1,000th edition...The cover of the 999th edition of the timetable, which goes on sale today, is adorned with the artwork of cartoonist Leiji Matsumoto, best known for the Galaxy Express 999 saga...more...
The article goes on to mention how the timetable is important to the plot of Seicho Matsumoto's "Points and Lines", which is one of the few books by the famous mystery writer to have been translated into English.
