On riding the trains

Tokyo has one of the most efficient train and subway transit systems in the world. The transit map is a spider's web of criss-crossing lines, but it is carefully laid out with colour-codes for the different through-fares. The trains are frequent and clean, and like everything else in Tokyo, filled with advertisements. There is no escape from the intense bombardment of posters and commercials.


The trains are clean, and English signs in the station and English announcements of the stops are provided. The travel by train is easy, but the stations are huge and sometimes maze-like. You go up an escalator to come back down another escalator, all the while looking to just exit the station from the correct side because they are huge to walk around.

I've mainly stayed on the Yamanote line, which cleverly and conveniently travels a loop around Tokyo with stops at all the major districts. The fare process allows you to pay a single fee (130 yen) and then pay any adjustment in fare once you arrive to your destination - the total fare being based on the distance that you've traveled.