Travel info - Transportation in Tokyo

The train network in Tokyo is very developed and most of the commuters and travelers use trains. Unlike European cities, trains, subways, and buses are usually operated by different private companies.

・JR (Japan Railway): connecting main terminal stations in Tokyo

・Private railway companies: connecting a station in the city and stations in a suburb

・Tokyo Metro and Toei: connecting a lot of stations inside the city

Yamanote Line (JR) is the main line in Tokyo and it surrounds the city (the shape of the route is a circle). Main terminal stations are on this line: Tokyo, Shinagawa, Hmamatsucho, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Nippori.

Inside this line, there are many subway stations and you can go anywhere without walking long if you take a subway to the closest station to your destination. 

If you’d like to go to the suburbs of Tokyo, take a train provided by private railway companies at a terminal station such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Shinagawa.

So, in Tokyo you don’t have to rent a car nor take a taxi but taking a train is a little difficult because the routes of these trains are complicated and you’d better use route maps when you travel, which you can get at the station.

Useful websites

・Train route search

Useful tickets

For people who travels a lot within a day

・1 day pass of JR lines

・1 day pass of Tokyo Metro

For people who travels outside Tokyo

・JR East Pass