Edo, the city that became Tokyo, was built for walking. Horses were reserved for high-ranking samurai and post-riders. Draught animals like oxen were non-existent, in part due to the Buddhist prohibition against exploiting cows (farmers did the hard work in the fields themselves).

Train Becomes The Main

The streets of the cities were built for pedestrians, and Edo was no exception. When the city started to modernize, the government established a few thoroughfares, but the main transport option quickly became the trains. The train lines were built largely on land that was confiscated from the palace gardens of the feudal landlords and the Buddhist monasteries financed by the shogun, which formed a green ring around Edo castle and the city center.

The Yamanote line today is largely placed in this green ring, which is easy to see if you look at a map. The Chuo line follows the profile of the inner moats, to give another example.

It did not take long after the Meji restoration until the first train connections had been established between Yokohama — then still the main import harbor for Tokyo — and Shimbashi, the first terminus. The original station building is still there, although today it is a restaurant.

Tokyo Station Train Delays

The construction of Tokyo Station, which was more complicated than expected, delayed the connection of the southbound lines with the northbound lines terminating in Ueno. But once done, the construction of train lines around Tokyo proceeded apace, with lines built both for the north-south and east-west connections and the Yamanote ring line tying the former post stations together.

The train lines around Tokyo were largely in place before the Second World War, which turned the city to rubble. The train lines, necessary for the operation of the rebuilt city, were the first focus of the rebuilding effort, and core in the economic expansion leading up to the 1964 Olympic Games and beyond. The inauguration of the Shinkansen trains to Osaka further cemented the position of trains as the main transport of Japan. However, there was no real alternative for local transport in Tokyo. The train lines ruled supreme.

Tricky Local Transport

It can, however, be tricky to go between two points in central Tokyo using JR trains alone, unless you are using the Yamanote line. But for destinations outside the immediate center of Tokyo, you have to get on the right line.

Looking at a railway map of Tokyo, you may roll your eyes in despair of ever being able to keep track of the colored knot pulsing before your eyes. But look more carefully, and you see that most lines actually converge, and in reality form one single line. In central Tokyo, all JR lines follow one or the other side of the Yamanote line, with the exception of the Chuo and Sobu lines, which cut across the Yamanote line loop.

First Find The Station in Tokyo

To take the train, you first have to find the stations. The train lines are typically clearly visible on a map, and easy to see from a distance on street level, as they often run on elevated tracks a couple of floors above street level. The stations are never far apart in central Tokyo, so just follow the tracks until you get to a train station.

The JR stations are typically designed the same way, with the entrance hall leading to the ticket gates. Often there is a small information office, increasingly unmanned. There are toilets (kept spotlessly clean) for passengers in need.

 

There are typically also a couple of vending machines for paper tickets, and a machine for charging Suica cards as well, below a huge map of the Tokyo area train system. Only JR, mind you. Private train lines are absent and the subways are invisible. However, the map does show the price to different destinations, although most people look it up in the search function on the ticket vending machines (you can do searches using Romaji, the Latin alphabet, as well). Once you have found your destination you can see the price, and buy the ticket.

Small Kids Ride The Train for Free

Remember that on the trains, as in most cases in Japan, kids below 6 ride for free, and those between 6 and 12 ride for half price. To buy a child ticket, press the button on the left side with a little red figure on it. This will get you a child ticket. Be careful when entering and exiting, as not all turnstiles are set up to take paper tickets.

 

For everyday use, the Suica card (Welcome Suica or the app in the phone) is the go-to ticketing solution. But recently, Apple Pay and Visa Touch have become payment options, which means that as a regular user, you never have any problem paying for your trip. As long as you have enough money available, that is.

 

The Welcome Suica and the regular Suica card — as well as the Pasmo card — are all stored value cards, which means you have to charge them with a certain amount of money. And the only way to do the charging in using cash. You can do it in the special machines in the stations, in ATMs (at least the 7–11 ATMs and several other convenience store banks), and in the fare adjustment machines inside the ticketing gates.

With solutions tied to ApplePay and credit cards you do not have a limit — the credit is already approved.

Ticket Fee Exit Deduction

The reason this matters is that the price for your trip is deducted from the value on the card when you exit from the station. If you do not have enough balance on the card, you have to add some more money to the balance to cover the cost of your trip.

 

There are private train lines in Tokyo, as well as the trains that belong to the JR, or Japan Railways. Actually JR East, since JR is divided into several operating companies. But this is nothing you notice as a regular traveler — you merely see that your JR pass does not work when you try to go to certain destinations. It is the destination that matters, not which train company is serving it. And with a Suica (or Pasmo) card you do not have to care.

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