Narita airport to Tokyo, travel (transport) & tourist tips ©2005- by Keith Wilkinson* Updated 6 Aug. 2009. URL of this page is http://narita.ispJapan.org .
See also my akiba.ispJapan.org, ispJapan.org & vaccination info. ( Travel time Narita to Tokyo ).
Today's flights: Narita international, Haneda domestic airports. | Tourist attractions
Request Tourist Info. such as maps, travel & sightseeing info. from regional JNTO offices in America, Europe & Australasia. There are also JNTO offices in Narita (e.g. in the center of the 1st floor arrival lobby in Terminal 2) & Kansai airports, and National head office is in the circular Kotsu Kaikan (10F) next
to Yurakucho station. Tokyo tourist info. (Shinjuku).
The JR Railpass (sold only outside Japan) may be a good deal if you plan to travel widely.
There are many limousine buses running to Tokyo and Yokohama hotels as well as Tokyo, Shinjuku, and Yokohama stations*. They cost about ¥3,000 and take about 90m. Buses are slower, but may be convenient if you have a lot of luggage & want to go directly to one of the hotels on their route.
*Also to Machida, Sagami Ono and Atsugi on the Odakyu line.
The JR East "Narita Express (NEX)" takes 53m ( timetable ) from Narita airport to Tokyo Stn., & costs ¥2,940. Some Narita Express trains continue to Shinjuku, Yokohama etc. Cheaper routes are described below.
The Keisei-line "Skyliner" Express costs ¥1,920, runs at 40m. intervals, and takes about an hour to Nippori or Ueno stn. on the Yamanote loop line. Regular Keisei-line fast trains cost ¥1,000, run at 20m. intervals, and make the same trip in about 1hr. 15m.
Keisei-line Nippori has a direct transfer to Nippori on the JR-East green Yamanote loop line that goes to Shinjuku & Tokyo.
For Yokohama, transfer at Keisei Funabashi to JR Funabashi. It takes ¥1,610 & about 2hr. — compared with ¥4,380 & maybe 15m. less (incl. waiting time) by Narita Express.
Keisei-line fast trains at approx. 20m intervals connect (may require a transfer at Aoto stn.) via Oshiage to the Asakusa subway line thru' Shimbashi (may require a transfer at Sengakuji stn.) to the Keikyu line running via Shinagawa to Haneda airport.
You can transfer at Keisei Katsutadai to Toyo Katsutadai; Toyo trains to Nishi Funabashi continue over the Tozai subway line to Nakano, connecting with the orange JR Chuo line.
Transfer & Price guide. Bilingual map, all lines: (PDF) (GIF) JR East Subway
Discounts, e.g. "one-day open pass", & convenient multi-ride cards
JR East discounts. The subway map shows two companies: Tokyo Metro & Toei. You can buy a minimum-price ticket: insert it in a yellow machine near the ticket gate at your exit stop (and pay any extra) to get an exit ticket. If your ride includes a transfer which involves exiting, however, it's often cheaper to buy a though ticket rather than separate tickets (the transfer discount applies if you enter the 2nd line within 30 min. of exiting the 1st). Ticket machines sell one-day open "free passes" for just Metro or JR; and combined Metro, Toei & JR. Since minimum fare on the Metro is typically ¥160 or ¥170, a one-day Metro pass pays for itself after four rides. SUICA (JR-East) & PASMO (issued by Tokyo Metro & most private train lines) plastic IC cards, rechargeble at ticket machines, sell for ¥2,000—including ¥500 refundable deposit for the card—and can be used on most "private" (non-JR) lines & Tokyo Metro subway lines [as well as in many buses & taxis, shops & vending machines]. Tap them on the top of the gate, rather than inserting them like a paper ticket. The minimum fare is deducted when you enter; the remainder is deducted when you exit. Tourist Travel Tips (Sightseeing) ->
The easiest way to understand the central Tokyo train system is to look at
the bilingual
train map (PDF) (GIF) which
shows (in black) the JR East orange Chuo line, yellow Sobu line, & green Yamanote loop line superimposed
on the subway system. The fast orange Chuo line trains
connect Tokyo & Kanda to Shinjuku via Ochanomizu & Yotsuya. The yellow
Sobu line connects Ryougoku (with Sumo & Edo (old
Tokyo) museums) to Akihabara (electronics
center) & Ochanomizu (transfer to fast Chuo-line for Shinjuku).
The green Yamanote loop line (actually two lines, one running clockwise and the other anticlockwise) runs thru' Yurakucho, Tokyo, Kanda, Akihabara, Okachimachi & Ueno.
Tokyo stn. has Shinkansen bullet trains and JR long-distance day & overnight buses (cheap "Seisyun Dream" buses now cost 5,000 yen or less to Kyoto or Osaka) 123; Tokyo CPO / Imperial Palace are near the Marunouchi Sth. exit. Kanda (one stop from Tokyo stn.) connects to the Ginza subway line for Suehirocho (on the Ginza dori street through Akihabara) and Asakusa (famous Sensoji temple, base of Sanja matsuri festival in May, & Tobu line to Nikko). Akihabara is two stops from Tokyo. Ameyoko market runs beside the Yamanote line from Okachimachi (next stop after Akihabara) to Ueno (park, containing art galleries & zoo, and Shinobazu park). On the other of Tokyo stn., Yurakucho is next to the circular Kotsu Kaikan with JNTO tourist info., the Bic Camera electronics superstore is on the other side, and it's an easy walk to the Ginza shopping street & Hibiya Park gardens.
Shinjuku, on the opposite side of the Yamanote loop line, is terminus for the Odakyu line to Hakone, Kamakura-Enoshima and Numazu, the Keio line to Mt. Takao-san, and the JR-East Chuo line via Tachikawa to Mt. Mitake-san on the Ome line, as well as the Seibu-Shinjuku line (about 5 min. North of Shinjuku West or East exits). Shinjuku is also terminus for many long-distance buses, e.g. to Mt. Fuji, (beside the Yodobashi camera & electronics discount superstore on the Odakyu (West) side of the station). Behind Yodobashi there's a Starbucks & the Shinjuku Nishi Post Office. Major Post Offices have ATMs that take international credit cards. Just north of Shinjuku West exit there's an underpass to the East exit. Shinjuku East exit has a huge TV screen & stage for events. From the West exit you can walk past the Keio store via the Lumine intersection to the (upstairs) South exit, with Takashimaya - Times Square containing Tokyu Hands (Handcraft & Hobby), Kinokuniya Bookstore & Starbucks. There are actually two Shinjuku South exits, the one on the Times Square side of the road has a JR long-distance day & overnight bus terminus downstairs (cheap "Seisyun Dream" buses now cost 5,000 yen or less to Kyoto or Osaka). Take the Oedo subway line from the Lumine store corner for night spot area Roppongi (caution: the Oedo subway is a loop line; the West exit of Shinjuku station is on the opposite side of the loop). It's an easy 5-min. walk from the West exit ( map ) to the "Tocho" (Tokyo metropolitan government) skyscraper (behind the Keio Plaza Hotel), you can see the view from the top (free) between 9:30am & 11pm. There's a Tokyo Tourist Information bureau on the ground floor. The "NS building" skyscraper down the road, with its glass-walled elevator, is also interesting, as is the small "Central Park". (Shinjuku Gyoen on the Marunouchi line, and Yoyogi Park, next to the Meiji shrine & Harajuku stn., are the main parks in the area). Lots of young people parade their fashions in Harajuku & Omotesando on weekends. Shibuya (where couples meet at the Hachiko statue) is a terminus for Toyoko-line trains running via Yokohama onto the Minato Mirai subway line to Chinatown (exit 2). Major conferences & exhibitions are held at Pacifico in the (Yokohama) (Toyoko-line) Minato Mirai complex near (JR) Sakurajicho stn., at Big Sight beside Kokusai Tenjijo on the Yurikamome "seagull" monorail from Yamanote-line Shimbashi near Tokyo, or near Kokusai Tenjijo on the Rinkai line from Shinjuku, and Makuhari at JR Kaihin Makuhari (just past Tokyo Disneyland at JR Maihama) on the JR Keiyo line from Tokyo. The Immigration (visa renewal) office is at Tennozu Isle, there is a direct bus from Shinagawa.
Useful web sites. *with many helpful comments from Kiwi train enthusiast Doug Ingham.