Transportation in Tokyo
Getting around Tokyo in the train system is one of the most convenient things and also one of the most maddening things you can experience in Japan. Let me give a couple of pros and cons:
Pros
- You can get anywhere in Tokyo riding the subway/train system.
- Trains are always on time so you know exactly when it's going to pull into the station.
- Most train announcements have English now, so it makes it a lot easier than say 10 years ago when everything was in Japanese.
- Definitely much cheaper than taking a taxi which has a initial cost of 660 Yen (which is the equivelant of around 6 dollars). Keep in mind that if you wanted to ride from say Narita airport to the center of Tokyo in a taxi, it would cost you roughly around 150-200 dollars. While at the same time, a train ride might cost you about 50 dollars.
- Trains are very clean and the seats are cushioned.
- The trains are generally very safe, but a little caution to female riders, there are some perverts who ride the train so be careful especially if you ride the train during morning rush hour because it's very crowded.
Cons
- There are two different types of train lines in Tokyo. The ones owned by JR (Japan Railways, which is nationally owned) and the private lines owned by different corporations. That means that sometimes you have to transfer from one company to another so you have to exit one line's station and enter another line.
- It can get expensive, maybe not quite as expensive as the "Tube" in London, but more expensive than the subways in New York because you get charged by how far you travel.
- Try to avoid riding the trains during rush hour in the morning, around 830am to 930am, because you have never seen packed until you ride a Tokyo train during rush hour.
- Also, every train line stops running around 1230 midnight and doesn't start again until 5 am so keep that in mind if you're out partying late at night.
One suggestion I have is that if you know you'll be traveling around Tokyo and maybe some of the other cities in Japan, buy a JR pass from your travel agency before you leave your country. It's a perk for tourists from the Japan government because only foreigners can get this pass. It will allow you to travel on any JR trains for the time that it's good. I bought a one week pass 2 years ago in New York, it cost me around 250 dollars and it was worth every penny. Keep in mind that just traveling from Narita to Tokyo would cost you about 50 dollars on the train and if you want to travel on the bullet train to one of the other cities in Japan, it would cost around 200 dollars plus you can ride any of the JR train lines within Tokyo and other cities in Japan. The card definitely pays for itself.
One quick warning about the JR pass, you can't use it for any of the private lines so you still have to buy a ticket at the station if you find yourself at one of the locations that doesn't have a JR line. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
