I knew transportation was going to be pricey and possibly painful while we were in Tokyo. I found a great Metro pass deal for tourists in the airport—a two day unlimited pass for our whole family cost ¥3900 ($50). It would have been great, IF we needed to ride the lines it covered (which we didn’t this time). Once we got up on Sunday, we had our bags sent to The New Sanno Hotel (we changed hotels after the first night), and we took the subway to Tokyo Disneyland. The kids had ridden the subway in DC last year, so I was hoping we would have less train surfing (kids trying to ride without holding on) and fewer choreography sessions on the train. I had also briefed them: “Do not cough, sneeze, or blow your nose on the train. We have to be quiet. No crazy. Be a good ambassador.” We still had a little train surfing and dancing, but we were mostly quiet (a small scale miracle). It is hard to believe how quiet 8.7 million riders can be until you have experienced it.
The metro system in Tokyo is supposedly the busiest in the world, and I believe it. I have ridden the metro in DC, New York, London, Paris, and Germany, and I think Tokyo is definitely the most challenging, if only because there are so many lines and supplemental trains crossing back and forth. While most signs are in both English and Kanji, it is overwhelming at first to figure out which line, which direction, how much the fare is from here to there, and so on. All the stations we used had mostly helpful attendants that understood pointing and grunting though, and we navigated through the ticket stations and various train changes. (Anyone traveling to a metro area with subways: if you have a smartphone, download the app called MetrO. It was invaluable for helping us with routes and changes, and it is even color coded.) Aside from sibling squabbles over who got to “help” push the ticket machine buttons, we managed pretty well.
On our second morning, we got an early start because we wanted to be at Disney Sea when it opened. Because I hate small spaces, I had prepared myself mentally for the rush hour commute on the trains. (Have you seen the videos with the white gloved attendants who keep shoving people on before the train doors shut? *shuddering*) Sure enough, at our first station, as the train slowed, I could see people were standing wedged together. The doors slid open and it seemed like only two people got off. We plunged into the silent train and stood crushed on all sides. Poor Jet couldn’t see anything but black trouser legs. I didn’t have time to worry about my tight spaces breathing exercises, because I was terrified one of the kids was going to get swept off the train in the mass who politely, but assertively pushed their way off at each stop. When we changed trains at Hatchobori, the trains were much less crowded and we made the last leg of the journey in relative ease.
I think we figured out it was about 1800 yen (~$23) each way from The New Sanno to Disney, then an additional 1200 yen or so for the monorail each way to get to Disney Sea. (We walked to Disneyland from the train station on the first day) The real expense was in getting to and from the airport. On our last morning, we decided to pay for convenience and take the “limousine bus” (a charter type bus) at 13,000 yen (~$165) directly from our hotel to the airport. I acutely remembered all the stairs in the railways, and between the suitcases, kids and their backpacks, and the train changes, I was willing to pay to put my suitcases on one bus, sit down, turn on my ipod, and let the bus driver manage the rest. I would definitely do it again.
I think before we go back, I will research some of the different pass options. I hope my Japan friends will tell me how we could have done it with a shoelace, a stick of gum, and a few yen coins. If that doesn’t work, we could buy a prepaid card for each person, so that we wouldn’t have to mess with the ticket machines at all. If you are planning a trip, the Tokyo Metro website is in English, and you could plan out quite a bit of your travel beforehand, as travel guides tend to have good information about which stations and trains to use. The metro may be fast, but I was glad to get back to Okinawa and drive my van Big Steve on the slower paced Okinawa roads– although I will miss seeing GREAT public service announcements on the trains like this one:
The one on the left says: “I was unaware of those piercing eyes looking at my backpack.” The one on the right says: “The thing was littered because it was no longer necessary. To other people it was even less necessary.”