Exploring the Tokyo Metro

One of the major things about traveling around Tokyo is the great distances that you need to cover to get from one district to the other. At first we were quite intimidated to use the Tokyo Metro mostly because we were so used to the Buenos Aires Subte with its 5 simple lines. We had seen the maps before arriving, but perhaps just hadn’t mentally prepared ourselves for trying to figure out how we were going to get to our hotel after 32 hours of travel from Buenos Aires. And to see in front of us a Metro map of all the lines going in every which direction and not a single map in Romanji (Japanese words spelled out using English letters), well, we became the typical confused tourists. You see, in Tokyo, not all of the lines are operated by the same company, and depending on the distance you might go or number of transfers you need to take, the rate varies. You need to find where you are and where you need to go (which is a challenge if the only map available is in Japanese) and purchase your ticket accordingly.

The Tokyo Metro closes around midnight and acts as the veins of the city. In fact, unlike Buenos Aires, the city definitely slows down once the metro closes for the night – just after it experiences the big rush of commuters running to catch the last train home at the end of the night.

We spent a lot of time in the Tokyo subways. Once we understood how to purchase tickets, we began exploring the city – sometimes covering two districts during one day – and returning at night to see these areas in a different light! Day passes often came in handy – although we would still end up spending almost $15 (USD) a day in transportation costs.

The Japanese are often extolled for their efficiency and certainly, the transportation system in Tokyo was no exception. In large stations that connected various metro, trains, shinkansen (bullet trains) and Japan Rail lines, you might find up to four floors in a seemingly maze-like structure of train transfers. Not to worry though, since everything was well documented and very accessible. The only downfall is that sometimes you might have to walk up to 500 meters underground (that’s like five city blocks here in Buenos Aires!!) to get from one subway to another. We figured out that on some days, out of the 12-16 hours that we were out and about walking around the city, we spent up to 4 of those hours in the subway or transferring stations or waiting for the trains. I think if they really wanted to be super efficient, they would install moving walkways to help push the people along.

Eh – perhaps that’s just selfish thinking because my feet were hurting so terribly from the blisters that I had from walking all day.

Next time… Getting outside of Tokyo and seeing Japan…

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