Getting a seat in Tokyo train is not really an easy job!
This might be one of your main concerns when you are planning to travel to Tokyo, or any other places. You may have so many places to go in your mind and you are not sure whether you will 'succeed' or not to go to every place that has been written in your itinerary. Furthermore, how you travel in Tokyo is really important when there is an elderly in your group trip.
In this article, i would try to help you to gain sufficient insights on how transportation in Tokyo works. This might not be enough though, so you may ask me later through any platform available or in comment section below, or can also find out yourself through brilliant Mr. Google.
Before talking about train, i would love to talk a little bit of facts about Tokyo so that you can easily understand everything later when i talk about train. This would be based on my 3-months spent reading everything about Tokyo (+ Seoul for 15 days) along with my real experiences in Tokyo and some places nearby Tokyo (Mount Fuji and Gala Yuzawa). Before going to Tokyo, i really never had any experience going to Japan but I created a very comprehensive itinerary that even my family and friends could not really believe that everything would work pretty well. But it turned out really amazing! My 3-months spent just by reading paid off. There were many times that we had to change our itinerary because of some circumstances but it was pretty smooth because i had sufficient amount of knowledge and changing itinerary during the last minute would not be any problem (and without compromising the quality of the trip). There was also a time when my family member lost their transport pass after entering the gate or using the wrong ones but it was not a really panic moment because i know what i got to do.
You might think that i complimented myself too much but that was not my intention at all but the real intention is that i want to tell you that you do not really need to have prior experiences in Tokyo to make a good itinerary and to have a real smooth journey there. Sometimes you may even have more knowledge about Tokyo than someone who already went there for more than one time but never really cared to read about Tokyo. So, the main purpose of this article is to really help you in planning your trip so that everything would be smooth and you would not face any major problems and even if you face, you know what you gotta do!
Pic from Google
Tokyo is a big city (or prefecture) in Japan and divided into 23 wards (refer picture above). Among the famous wards are shibuya and shinjuku (those names might be familiar to you). So where is the famous electric and anime town, Akihabara is located? It is located in chiyoda ward! Most of the famous places are located around shinjuku, shibuya, chiyoda, taito, minato, chuo and koto. And so, why am I talking about this? One of the reasons is you have to know the boundary of the tokyo city. For example, itabashi ward. This is really important when you are staying or going to area outside of tokyo city and also you are planning to use a rail pass that covers only Tokyo city (23 wards in pic) such as Tokunai pass (Tokyo Metropolitan District pass) which can only be used on JR trains in tokyo (JR trains would be explained later, don't worry). Let say you are staying or traveling from tokyo city to kawaguchi, which is just a bit outside of tokyo city (not in the 23 wards), so the tokyo-related pass that you have would not cover the fare to kawaguchi from tokyo city. So what do you have to do? Can you pay the remaining fare when you reach at kawaguchi? Or can your pass even be inserted into the gate? Everything would be explained after this! I just want to stress the importance of knowing the boundaries of tokyo city so that it would not cause any problem to you later on especially when you are using a tokyo-related pass.
There are many railway companies as well as train and subway lines in Tokyo city that sometimes a train station (for example, Ueno station) can have more than 10 lines at one station. Having many lines at one station will make your journey easier because you can easily transfer to other lines to get to your destination but for the first timer, all that comes to your mind is confusion of which platform that you have to go, how to get there, how to easily recognize the platform (eg by colour) and how to differentiate the same line that have multiple platforms (for example, chuo line might have 3 platforms of different destination).
Many passes are available for foreigners visiting Tokyo but before buying those passes, you have to know what places the pass cover and what exactly the railway companies and type of trains that you can ride. The most famous company in Japan is Japan Rail (JR) that covers almost the whole Japan and the company has a specific name for each area. I mean, for Tokyo it is called Japan Rail East (JR East). They have normal train (above ground), bullet train (shinkansen) and many more. Other companies are Toei in which it is a government-owned company that provides services such as subway and bus. There is also Tokyo Metro that has 9 lines of subway while Toei only has 4 subway lines. Other than all mentioned above is private companies such as Keisei, Odakyu, Tokyo Monorail and Rinkai that cover certain areas in Tokyo. I am sorry if you are a bit confused, but let me break it down below here:
Railway companies:
1. Japan Rail East (JR East)
- Normal train (many types)
- Shinkansen (bullet train)
- Narita Express (express train to and from Narita Airport)
- Fuji Excursion
- Many other types!
2. Toei
- Subway (4 lines)
3. Tokyo Metro
- Subway (9 lines)
4. Other private companies
- Tokyo Monorail (to and from Haneda Airport)
- Keisei (to and from Narita Airport)
- Rinkai / Yurikamome (to and from Odaiba)
- And many more!
Many passes are available for foreigners visiting Tokyo but before buying those passes, you have to know what places the pass cover and what exactly the railway companies and type of trains that you can ride. The most famous company in Japan is Japan Rail (JR) that covers almost the whole Japan and the company has a specific name for each area. I mean, for Tokyo it is called Japan Rail East (JR East). They have normal train (above ground), bullet train (shinkansen) and many more. Other companies are Toei in which it is a government-owned company that provides services such as subway and bus. There is also Tokyo Metro that has 9 lines of subway while Toei only has 4 subway lines. Other than all mentioned above is private companies such as Keisei, Odakyu, Tokyo Monorail and Rinkai that cover certain areas in Tokyo. I am sorry if you are a bit confused, but let me break it down below here:
Railway companies:
1. Japan Rail East (JR East)
- Normal train (many types)
- Shinkansen (bullet train)
- Narita Express (express train to and from Narita Airport)
- Fuji Excursion
- Many other types!
2. Toei
- Subway (4 lines)
3. Tokyo Metro
- Subway (9 lines)
4. Other private companies
- Tokyo Monorail (to and from Haneda Airport)
- Keisei (to and from Narita Airport)
- Rinkai / Yurikamome (to and from Odaiba)
- And many more!
I believe that new confusion has come up, that is which one should you use and which one is better in terms of convenience, price etc?. Before talking about traveling around Tokyo, let us first talk about how you would travel from airport to the Tokyo city (I really hope that your accommodation is in 23 wards of Tokyo, and it is much better if it is located in the famous ward such as around chiyoda ward and near to train station especially jr train (for your own convenience!). If you are from Haneda airport, be it terminal 1 or 2, you can just ride Tokyo Monorail (refer pic below) to get to your accommodation area.
As you can see in the picture above, there are 3 lines which is express, rapid and local. You can just ride any line for the same price which is around 220yen and the time difference is not that much. Usually your end destination when riding this monorail is Monorail Hamamatsucho station because after reaching that station, you can easily transfer to JR trains (also Toei subway) that covers almost all places in Tokyo. If you arrive at the airport early at in the morning and you want to go somewhere else first before you can check in into your accommodation, you can just put in your luggage into the luggage storage locker or luggage storage counter that is provided in many main train stations (eg Tokyo station) and sometimes provided by some shop lots nearby.
For your information, to ride this train, you can use Suica/pasmo card, or buy and use normal ticket (one way or return), or passes and multiple ticket by this company (which i do not recommend because you will be more confused) or passes by JR East company such as Tokyo wide pass and JR pass because these passes cover tokyo monorail too! I would talk about passes by JR East company later in this article. Besides train, there is also bus, taxi etc but i'm sorry because i would not talk about that in this article.
What if you are from or to Narita Airport terminal 1/2/3? There are so many options available! Train and bus are both convenient and commonly used! I would suggest you to use train because i only used that method :P and it was convenient enough that you do not have to think about any other option such as bus but if you are looking for the cheapest option, then bus may be your choice especially the shuttle bus. There are a few train options:
1. Keisei line (by Keisei company)
- Keisei skyliner (it is significantly cheaper to book from Klook!)
- Keisei Narita limited express
2. Narita Express (N'EX by JR East company)
Keisei skyliner may be the best option because it is not really that expensive (~2500yen) and it is really convenient because you can reach Ueno station in just ~41mins and there is space provided for your luggage storage in the train. Cheaper option would be another train by Keisei company which is Keisei narita limited express but it would take more than two times the travel time of Keisei skyliner because it stops at many stations. Another option would be Narita Express (N'EX) by JR East company. This train is just as convenient as Keisei skyliner. If you have tokyo wide pass, you are eligible to use this train for free! If you don't have that pass, then it's better to use Keisei skyliner because Narita Express is more expensive to be used without any pass.
By the way, i really do not recommend you to buy tokyo wide pass straightaway after arriving at narita airport because the queue at the JR East travel service center at the Narita airport (especially terminal 2/3) is usually quite long. So buy the pass at other main train stations around Tokyo city (eg Ueno station) but do plan your journey well to maximize the pass usage because it is not that cheap, it is 10180 yen okay (as for now - 31/11/2020)!
Any further questions about train from Narita airport to/from Tokyo city can be asked in the comment sections below! Now, let's move on to traveling around Tokyo!
This is the time where i would like to talk about few transportation passes that are available for traveling around Tokyo (also about Suica/pasmo!). Many passes are only available to foreigners who have a foreign passport (not Japanese passport), so the staffs at the counter (regardless of any company) certainly would ask you to show your passport, so be ready with that. If you are going to buy passes for your family members/friends, make sure to bring all their passports with you.
Before talking about all the passes, let's talk about suica card first (pasmo card is almost the same, would be discussed later). Suica card is simply a transportation card, or prepaid smart card that can be used to ride almost all public transports (train, subway, bus and taxi) and can also be used in almost all convenience stores (7e/family mart/lawson) and even vending machines (look for suica logo on the card reader). This card is provided by JR East company that can be used around Tokyo and also in some other prefectures (Hokkaido etc).
FURTHER READING ABOUT SUICA: 1 | 2
First you have to get to any major JR East train stations such as Ueno station (easy reference because most of you would get here first from the airport). Then, get inside the station and find the ticket gate. Just near the ticket gate, you would find JR East travel service center and also Midori No Madoguchi (it's a place for jr train seat reservation - but only train that has reserved seating). You can enter the JR East travel service center to buy the suica card but sometimes you have to queue a bit. So to save your time, there would be some ticket vending machines just near or in front of the travel service center and find any machine that has 'suica' written on it (refer pic below).
Then get to the machine, choose 'English' language first at the screen (if you understand Japanese, than just go on with that language). Then find 'Purchase new suica' option on the screen. After that, there would be three options. Just make sure to select Suica (not MySuica!) then you will have to select the preloaded amount of your suica card. For me, i just chose the 3000yen amount (in which you would get 2500yen preloaded amount in the card because 500yen is kinda price of the card in which the 500yen can be refunded later when you insert your card at suica refund machine located at limited locations (narita/haneda airport), or just get the refund at JR East travel service center).
I chose 3000yen only because i already had some passes (eg tokunai pass/ tokyo wide pass) and that pass would allow me to use jr trains (i would explain what is jr trains and what is not) for unlimited rides so i would use that suica/pasmo card when i ride non-jr trains such as toei subway or tokyo metro subway because sometimes jr train could not bring me to some places that i wanted.
How to recharge? Just get back to that machine and select 'english' then choose 'Charge' option on the screen then select the amount that you want. The machine only accepts cash, and you can insert 10000yen even your desired charge amount is just 1000yen and the machine would give out the balance in cash.
How to use? Just tap the card at the ticket gate when you enter then tap again when you exit at the ticket gate. Just make sure you do not lose your card. But what if you lose? Go to the ticket gate and asked for help from any assistant or officers in charge over there, they sometimes would even get you out for free by tapping their own 'special' card. There is another method which is quite inappropriate which i would tell you if you ask me specifically about this :D.
How about pasmo card? Is it the same card as suica card? Yes, kind of. You can use it just like suica card but there will be some differences. The main difference is that you can only find that card in some private railway companies, Narita and Haneda airport and also subway station (for sure it is not jr train station because there is no subway provided by jr east company). You might have already guessed that pasmo card is not provided by JR East company.
If you ask me which card is better, I would say suica card and pasmo card are just the same. It just depends on what train station that you are going to 'meet' first, either it is jr train or non-jr train stations. If it is JR train station, then for sure it is easier for you to get suica card, and vice versa. But i would always prefer suica card because....the card just looks better :P.
I'm sorry for always having something else to say before we talk about things that you might really want to know about, which is traveling and navigating in Tokyo city. Don't worry, because now I am really going to talk about that!
Our reference would always be Ueno station, because this station is where most of the visitors would arrive first, if not first, among the earliest. I already explained on how to get to Tokyo city from Narita Airport and how to get out of Haneda Aiport to get to your destination, so I hope that would not be any more problem to you.
*I might use the word 'line' and 'platform' interchangeably, to mean the same thing, so bear with me*
Ueno station is a very strategic location to be used as reference, because from there you can get to most places by using any train or subway of more than 10 lines. From those lines, I would divide the into jr train and non-jr train.
**It's been long since i last updated, and i am really busy nowadays but i will try my best to get back in finishing this article, so stay tuned. But if you have any urgent question, you can just get in touch with me through any social medias that i have, i will surely entertain you there!
As you can see in the picture above, there are 3 lines which is express, rapid and local. You can just ride any line for the same price which is around 220yen and the time difference is not that much. Usually your end destination when riding this monorail is Monorail Hamamatsucho station because after reaching that station, you can easily transfer to JR trains (also Toei subway) that covers almost all places in Tokyo. If you arrive at the airport early at in the morning and you want to go somewhere else first before you can check in into your accommodation, you can just put in your luggage into the luggage storage locker or luggage storage counter that is provided in many main train stations (eg Tokyo station) and sometimes provided by some shop lots nearby.
For your information, to ride this train, you can use Suica/pasmo card, or buy and use normal ticket (one way or return), or passes and multiple ticket by this company (which i do not recommend because you will be more confused) or passes by JR East company such as Tokyo wide pass and JR pass because these passes cover tokyo monorail too! I would talk about passes by JR East company later in this article. Besides train, there is also bus, taxi etc but i'm sorry because i would not talk about that in this article.
What if you are from or to Narita Airport terminal 1/2/3? There are so many options available! Train and bus are both convenient and commonly used! I would suggest you to use train because i only used that method :P and it was convenient enough that you do not have to think about any other option such as bus but if you are looking for the cheapest option, then bus may be your choice especially the shuttle bus. There are a few train options:
1. Keisei line (by Keisei company)
- Keisei skyliner (it is significantly cheaper to book from Klook!)
- Keisei Narita limited express
2. Narita Express (N'EX by JR East company)
Keisei skyliner may be the best option because it is not really that expensive (~2500yen) and it is really convenient because you can reach Ueno station in just ~41mins and there is space provided for your luggage storage in the train. Cheaper option would be another train by Keisei company which is Keisei narita limited express but it would take more than two times the travel time of Keisei skyliner because it stops at many stations. Another option would be Narita Express (N'EX) by JR East company. This train is just as convenient as Keisei skyliner. If you have tokyo wide pass, you are eligible to use this train for free! If you don't have that pass, then it's better to use Keisei skyliner because Narita Express is more expensive to be used without any pass.
By the way, i really do not recommend you to buy tokyo wide pass straightaway after arriving at narita airport because the queue at the JR East travel service center at the Narita airport (especially terminal 2/3) is usually quite long. So buy the pass at other main train stations around Tokyo city (eg Ueno station) but do plan your journey well to maximize the pass usage because it is not that cheap, it is 10180 yen okay (as for now - 31/11/2020)!
As you can see, Keisei skyliner would bring you to Nippori and Ueno while rapid express (or limited express) can bring you to either Nippori/Ueno or to Shinagawa. So, be aware of where the train is heading to!
Any further questions about train from Narita airport to/from Tokyo city can be asked in the comment sections below! Now, let's move on to traveling around Tokyo!
This is the time where i would like to talk about few transportation passes that are available for traveling around Tokyo (also about Suica/pasmo!). Many passes are only available to foreigners who have a foreign passport (not Japanese passport), so the staffs at the counter (regardless of any company) certainly would ask you to show your passport, so be ready with that. If you are going to buy passes for your family members/friends, make sure to bring all their passports with you.
Before talking about all the passes, let's talk about suica card first (pasmo card is almost the same, would be discussed later). Suica card is simply a transportation card, or prepaid smart card that can be used to ride almost all public transports (train, subway, bus and taxi) and can also be used in almost all convenience stores (7e/family mart/lawson) and even vending machines (look for suica logo on the card reader). This card is provided by JR East company that can be used around Tokyo and also in some other prefectures (Hokkaido etc).
FURTHER READING ABOUT SUICA: 1 | 2
First you have to get to any major JR East train stations such as Ueno station (easy reference because most of you would get here first from the airport). Then, get inside the station and find the ticket gate. Just near the ticket gate, you would find JR East travel service center and also Midori No Madoguchi (it's a place for jr train seat reservation - but only train that has reserved seating). You can enter the JR East travel service center to buy the suica card but sometimes you have to queue a bit. So to save your time, there would be some ticket vending machines just near or in front of the travel service center and find any machine that has 'suica' written on it (refer pic below).
Then get to the machine, choose 'English' language first at the screen (if you understand Japanese, than just go on with that language). Then find 'Purchase new suica' option on the screen. After that, there would be three options. Just make sure to select Suica (not MySuica!) then you will have to select the preloaded amount of your suica card. For me, i just chose the 3000yen amount (in which you would get 2500yen preloaded amount in the card because 500yen is kinda price of the card in which the 500yen can be refunded later when you insert your card at suica refund machine located at limited locations (narita/haneda airport), or just get the refund at JR East travel service center).
I chose 3000yen only because i already had some passes (eg tokunai pass/ tokyo wide pass) and that pass would allow me to use jr trains (i would explain what is jr trains and what is not) for unlimited rides so i would use that suica/pasmo card when i ride non-jr trains such as toei subway or tokyo metro subway because sometimes jr train could not bring me to some places that i wanted.
How to recharge? Just get back to that machine and select 'english' then choose 'Charge' option on the screen then select the amount that you want. The machine only accepts cash, and you can insert 10000yen even your desired charge amount is just 1000yen and the machine would give out the balance in cash.
How to use? Just tap the card at the ticket gate when you enter then tap again when you exit at the ticket gate. Just make sure you do not lose your card. But what if you lose? Go to the ticket gate and asked for help from any assistant or officers in charge over there, they sometimes would even get you out for free by tapping their own 'special' card. There is another method which is quite inappropriate which i would tell you if you ask me specifically about this :D.
How about pasmo card? Is it the same card as suica card? Yes, kind of. You can use it just like suica card but there will be some differences. The main difference is that you can only find that card in some private railway companies, Narita and Haneda airport and also subway station (for sure it is not jr train station because there is no subway provided by jr east company). You might have already guessed that pasmo card is not provided by JR East company.
If you ask me which card is better, I would say suica card and pasmo card are just the same. It just depends on what train station that you are going to 'meet' first, either it is jr train or non-jr train stations. If it is JR train station, then for sure it is easier for you to get suica card, and vice versa. But i would always prefer suica card because....the card just looks better :P.
I'm sorry for always having something else to say before we talk about things that you might really want to know about, which is traveling and navigating in Tokyo city. Don't worry, because now I am really going to talk about that!
Our reference would always be Ueno station, because this station is where most of the visitors would arrive first, if not first, among the earliest. I already explained on how to get to Tokyo city from Narita Airport and how to get out of Haneda Aiport to get to your destination, so I hope that would not be any more problem to you.
*I might use the word 'line' and 'platform' interchangeably, to mean the same thing, so bear with me*
Ueno station is a very strategic location to be used as reference, because from there you can get to most places by using any train or subway of more than 10 lines. From those lines, I would divide the into jr train and non-jr train.
**It's been long since i last updated, and i am really busy nowadays but i will try my best to get back in finishing this article, so stay tuned. But if you have any urgent question, you can just get in touch with me through any social medias that i have, i will surely entertain you there!
SORRY I AM SO BUSY RIGHT NOW AND WILL CONTINUE LATER!
ALTERNATIVE READING MATERIAL : https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-ueno/article-a0001084/
ALTERNATIVE READING MATERIAL : https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-ueno/article-a0001084/
**UPDATE (14/2/2021) : I AM NOT THINKING TO CONTINUE ABOUT THIS ANYMORE BECAUSE I AM REALLY BUSY AT THE MOMENT, JUGGLING BETWEEN STUDY AND HOBBY. YOU CAN CONTACT ME AT ANY TIME REGARDING THIS MATTER THROUGH MY SOCIAL MEDIA (IG/TWITTER) AND I WILL TRY TO ANSWER EVERYTHING THERE! THANK YOU!
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