Trains
Tokyo offers a variety of transportation means, from trains and buses to monorails and ships. Using them wisely can help you cover different areas efficiently, and even enjoy different scenes.
Main railway companies
How to buy tickets
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Ticket machines
Those who do not understand Japanese can easily buy tickets with touch-screen ticket machines, which have an English display option. While most of the machines accept 1,000-yen notes, some machines also accept bills in larger denominations, including 5,000- and 10,000-yen notes, so purchasers do not need to change notes in advance. No coins smaller than 10 yen are accepted at ticket machines.
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1. Ticket machines are installed opposite or beside wickets. First, confirm the fare to your destination on the fare table or the route chart on the walls above the machines.
2. Put the stated fare into the machine and press the appropriate button. If using a touch-screen machine, you can first press the fare to your destination and then insert the money. (You can put up to six coins at the same time into a touch-screen machine, but you should insert bills one by one. As some machines do not accept wrinkled bills, please make sure that you have bills in good condition)
3. After receiving your ticket and change, head for the wickets.
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Automatic Ticket Gates
1.Most train stations in Tokyo use automatic ticket gates. When you have a ticket with has a black or brown magnetic surface on its back, you insert the ticket into the slit on the right hand side of the wicket you want to go through. After you pass through the ticket gate, your ticket will come out of the slit on the other side of the wicket with a small hole in it. Pull out and keep the ticket. Since you need to use the ticket again when you reach your destination, you should take care not to bend or soil it.
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2.When you arrive at your destination and leave the station, insert the ticket into the ticket gate. The ticket gate will keep the ticket. If insert the ticket into a wicket outside the area covered by the fare on your ticket, the gate will give warning and prevent you from going through it. In that case, the ticket will be returned through the forward slit. Pay the difference at the fare-adjustment machines beside the wickets and go through a ticket gate by inserting the fare-adjusted ticket. You can also go to the manned wicket beside automatic ticket gates to pay the difference.