WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET AROUND TOKYO? | TRANSPORTATION IN JAPAN

Unless you have an international driving permit and only wish to drive around (which is not recommended), you’ll most likely be using Japan’s excellent railway systems. The Japanese transport network is clean, reliable and very convenient. It’s a lot less complicated than you think and we hope to break it down for you here.

Passes

In another article, we discuss getting the JR Pass and whether it’s effective for you. You can read about it here. Upon arrival in Japan, it’s highly recommended that you obtain a pasmo or suica card. It’s a card where you charge money into so you can ride trains easily - this is compared to buying an individual ticket each time and calculating how much you need to pay for every train ride. Trust us, get a pasmo or suica. We talk about getting one and the usefulness in detail here. Aside from these passes and cards, you can look into getting JR regional passes and other local regional passes depending on the prefecture you visit.

Breakdown of the trains

There are different railways in Japan. Aside from the shinkansen (bullet trains) there are basically no difference in them, other than the fact that they are operated by different companies and have different ticketing gates. Sometimes you wont even notice the difference between them. There are four main groups of trains that you will likely use in Japan:

Shinkansen: The famous bullet train known for its speed, comfort and reliability. You can travel across the country in a matter of hours. You will probably use this for long distance travel such as Tokyo - Osaka/Kyoto or Tokyo - Hiroshima.

JR railways: Formerly the national railway company of Japan it’s now divided into six different regions operated privately. If you’re within a single region for a couple days, it could be economical to buy a JR regional pass.

Private railways: There are so many in Japan. In Tokyo you have the Tokyu lines and in Osaka/Kyoto you have the Hankyu lines. They are often times cheaper than JR Lines too.

Tokyo Metro: These are the subways and there are ALOT. They come in handy for transfers so look out for metros too!

Main Lines in Tokyo

Some of the main lines in Tokyo that hit the major cities are the JR Yamanote Line, JR Keihin Tohoku Line, JR Sobu/Chuo Line, Tokyu Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.

Photo Credit: Japan Guide

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