Tokyo, Japan

Getting around Tokyo

How to travel around Tokyo — 5 options, what they cost, and which booking apps fix the fare before you go.

Last updated 2026-08-08

1. JR and metro network

One of the densest and most punctual rail networks anywhere, run by several separate operators.

Cost: 150–320 JPY per trip
Tip: A Suica or PASMO card works across all of them and can live in your phone wallet.

2. Suica / PASMO card

Stored-value card for trains, buses, lockers and convenience stores.

Tip: Add it to an iPhone or Android wallet and top up by card — no ticket machines at all.

3. Taxi

Immaculate, expensive, and honest — doors open automatically.

Cost: 500 JPY flagfall
Tip: Rarely worth it over rail except late at night after the trains stop.

4. Shinkansen

High-speed rail to the rest of the country from Tokyo and Shinagawa stations.

Tip: Reserve seats in advance during holiday weeks; unreserved cars fill completely.

5. Walking and station navigation

The major interchanges are small cities in themselves.

Tip: Note your exit number, not just the station — some have over 200 exits and surfacing at the wrong one means a long walk.

Booking apps in Japan

Agreeing the fare in an app before you travel removes the argument at the end of the journey, which is where most transport scams happen. Links go to each app's official page — lookalike apps are themselves a scam.

GO

The largest Japanese taxi-hailing app, dispatching licensed metered taxis.

Coverage: Most prefectures, strongest in the big cities.
Why it helps: Dispatches a licensed metered taxi and records the trip, avoiding the long-route padding visitors get.

Uber

In Japan this hails licensed taxis rather than private cars.

Coverage: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka and others.
Why it helps: Fare is agreed in the app before the trip, and the route is recorded — which removes the refused meter, the tampered meter and the fixed 'foreigner price' in one move.

Suica / PASMO

Stored-value transit cards, addable to an iPhone or Android wallet and usable nationwide.

Coverage: Nationwide across most operators.

Japan Transit Planner

Route and fare planning across the dense private and JR rail networks.

Coverage: Nationwide.