Thirteen subway lines, two companies, separate fares — and JR, which isn't a subway at all but sits on the same maps. Once you can see the seams, the network stops being confusing.
The reason a Tokyo rail map looks impossible is that it is showing you several unrelated companies at once. There are thirteen subway lines in the city, and Toei's own visitor guide is blunt about the consequence: they are operated by two networks, and the two networks use different fare systems. Add JR and the private railways and you have four kinds of operator sharing one diagram.
The larger subway operator and the one you will use most. Distance-based fares from ¥180. Its lines cover the centre densely and interchange with each other constantly, often without leaving the gates.
Run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, alongside the city buses, the Tokyo Sakura Tram and the Nippori-Toneri Liner. Separate fare system from Tokyo Metro. The Asakusa Line is the one visitors meet first, because Keikyū and Keisei trains from both airports run onto it.
Surface railways that thread through the city and appear on every subway map because they interchange everywhere. The Yamanote loop is the single most useful line in Tokyo for a visitor. Separate company, separate gates, separate fares — a subway pass does not cover it.
Commuter railways radiating out from the terminal stations, each its own company with its own fares. Several run through onto subway tracks, which is why a train can change line name and operator without you getting off.
Source: Toei Transportation Guide (PDF) and Tokyo Metro.
Through-running is a feature, not a mistake. A Keikyū train from Haneda becomes a Toei Asakusa Line train at Sengakuji and may become a Keisei train heading to Narita after that — same seat, three companies. It is genuinely convenient. It also means the sign that matters is the final destination, not the line colour. How this works from Haneda →
Tokyo Metro charges by distance, in five bands. IC card fares are calculated to the yen while paper tickets round to ten, so tapping is very slightly cheaper — a few yen, not a reason to change your behaviour, but it explains the odd-looking numbers.
| Distance | Ticket | IC card | Child (ticket) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–6 km | ¥180 | ¥178 | ¥90 |
| 7–11 km | ¥210 | ¥209 | ¥110 |
| 12–19 km | ¥260 | ¥252 | ¥130 |
| 20–27 km | ¥300 | ¥293 | ¥150 |
| 28–40 km | ¥330 | ¥324 | ¥170 |
Approx. US$1.10–$2.02 at ¥163 to US$1, 30 July 2026. Prices include the ¥10 station barrier-free charge for adults. One special fare exists: Ayase to Kita-senju on the Chiyoda Line is ¥160. Source: Tokyo Metro — Regular Tickets.
In practice almost every journey a visitor makes inside central Tokyo falls in the first two bands — call it ¥180 to ¥210 a ride. That is the number to hold in your head when deciding whether a day pass is worth it.
Toei's fare table is not published in English. Toei Subway charges by distance too, on its own scale, but its English site publishes ticket and pass prices without a distance-fare table. Rather than reproduce figures we cannot source, use Toei's own fare search for a specific station pair. This is on our list to re-check every month.
You take a Tokyo Metro line for four stops, change to a Toei line for three more, and the gate charges you far more than the distance suggests. Nothing has gone wrong: you used two companies, and each charged its own minimum fare.
A short trip crossing between Metro and Toei can cost roughly double the same-length trip on one network. On a busy sightseeing day that is a few hundred yen a time, several times over — which is precisely the gap the day passes exist to close.
The same applies, harder, to JR. Hopping between the Yamanote line and the subway means two fares as well, and there is no combined discount for it. A trip like Shinjuku → Ginza can be done on JR then Metro, or on Metro throughout, and the all-Metro route is often cheaper even if it looks longer on the map.
What an IC card fixes, and what it doesn't. A Suica or PASMO works across every operator and calculates the right fare at the gate, so you never buy the wrong ticket. It does not make the second fare go away — for that you need a pass.
| Pass | Covers | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Subway Ticket, 24 h | Metro + Toei | ¥1,000 | ¥500 |
| Tokyo Subway Ticket, 48 h | Metro + Toei | ¥1,500 | ¥750 |
| Tokyo Subway Ticket, 72 h | Metro + Toei | ¥2,000 | ¥1,000 |
| Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket | Metro only | ¥700 | ¥350 |
| Common One-Day Ticket | Metro + Toei | ¥1,100 | ¥550 |
| Toei 1Day Pass | Toei subway, bus, tram, Nippori-Toneri | ¥700 | ¥350 |
| Tokyo Combination Ticket | Metro + Toei + Toei bus + tram + Nippori-Toneri + JR in the 23 wards | ¥1,720 | ¥860 |
| Toei Bus 1Day Pass | Toei buses in the 23 wards | ¥500 | ¥250 |
| Toden 1Day Pass | Tokyo Sakura Tram | ¥400 | ¥200 |
| Greater Tokyo Pass, 5 days | 13 private railway and bus operators across Kantō | ¥6,500 | ¥3,250 |
Approx. US$6 / $9 / $12 for the Tokyo Subway Tickets at ¥163 to US$1, 30 July 2026. Sources: Toei Transportation — Tickets and Tokyo Metro — 1-Day Open Tickets. Both operators publish the shared products, and their figures agree.
If you have seen ¥800 / ¥1,200 / ¥1,500 for the Tokyo Subway Ticket, that is stale. Those were the old prices and they are still all over travel blogs and forum answers. The current prices are ¥1,000, ¥1,500 and ¥2,000, published by both Tokyo Metro and Toei.
It is a visitor product, not a general one. Tokyo Metro states it is available to overseas visitors, and to domestic visitors living outside Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Yamanashi prefectures. In practice, arriving from abroad, you qualify — bring your passport. If you do not qualify, the Common One-Day Ticket at ¥1,100 is the equivalent product.
It is sold at both airports, at Tourist Information Centers, at some hotels and electronics stores, and bundled with airport transfers — Keisei sells it with a Skyliner ticket and Keikyū with a Haneda return.
"24 hours" means 24 hours, not a calendar day. The Tokyo Subway Ticket and the Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket both run from first use, so a ticket first tapped at 15:00 on Tuesday lasts until 15:00 on Wednesday. The Common One-Day Ticket, by contrast, is a calendar day — first train to last train. Starting an afternoon, the hour-based tickets are meaningfully better value.
The Tokyo Subway Ticket. At ¥1,000 for 24 hours it undercuts the ¥1,100 Common One-Day Ticket while covering exactly the same two networks, and the 72-hour version works out at under ¥670 a day. Against a typical ¥180–¥210 fare, it pays for itself at about five or six rides — an ordinary sightseeing day.
The Common One-Day Ticket at ¥1,100. Same coverage, no eligibility test, sold at any Metro or Toei ticket machine. If your day is genuinely confined to Tokyo Metro lines, the ¥700 Metro-only 24-hour ticket is cheaper still — but check your route, because the Ōedo and Asakusa lines are Toei and it is easy to need one without realising.
The Tokyo Combination Ticket at ¥1,720 is the only pass that spans both, adding all JR lines within the 23 wards plus the Toei buses and tram. It is the right buy on a day built around the Yamanote line with subway hops in between — and the only pass that stops you paying two operators for one trip.
Just tap an IC card. If you are walking most of the day and taking two or three trains, pay-as-you-go beats every pass here. A pass that saves you ¥200 is not worth planning your day around. Suica and PASMO →
Tokyo's buses are far less used by visitors than they should be, largely because the rail network is so good. Two things worth knowing:
| Service | Adult | IC | Child |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toei Bus — flat fare, 23 wards | ¥210 | ¥210 | ¥110 · ¥105 IC |
| Tokyo Sakura Tram (Toden Arakawa Line) | ¥170 | ¥168 | ¥90 · ¥84 IC |
Source: Toei Transportation Guide (PDF). Toei buses running outside the 23 wards have different boarding and payment procedures.
The Toei bus fare is flat — ¥210 regardless of distance — which makes it excellent value for longer cross-town journeys and poor value for two stops. The Sakura Tram is the last surviving Tokyo streetcar and a genuinely pleasant way to see the northern suburbs; at ¥400 the Toden 1Day Pass pays for itself in three rides.
On buses, note that only 1,000-yen notes are accepted for topping up on board — no coins, no 5,000 or 10,000-yen notes. Another argument for arriving with a charged IC card.
Many Tokyo Metro interchanges are inside the fare gates, so you simply walk between platforms. Where you do have to pass through a gate to change lines, use the orange transfer gates rather than the ordinary ones, and complete the transfer within 60 minutes — beyond that your ticket is no longer valid for the onward leg.
Stations where you can change between Metro lines without passing a gate include Ōtemachi, Ikebukuro, Iidabashi, Ginza, Ueno, Shibuya, Shinjuku-sanchōme, Ningyōchō and several others.
Every station carries a letter-and-number code — G-09, M-16, A-18 — where the letter is the line and the number the station. It is the single most useful thing on the map if you cannot read the Japanese name, and announcements and signage use it consistently. Toei's Asakusa Line is A, Mita is I, Shinjuku is S, Ōedo is E.
Tokyo's subway does not run all night. Last trains are around midnight to 01:00 depending on line and direction, and there is no night service — the gap until about 05:00 is covered by taxis, which surge accordingly. This catches visitors from cities with 24-hour metros. If you are out late, check the last train from the station you will actually be at, not the one nearest your hotel.
Unused Tokyo Metro tickets can be refunded for a ¥170 handling fee, or ¥220 where another company is involved. Day passes carry a ¥220 fee and can only be refunded unused and unexpired. Lose a ticket mid-journey and you pay the fare from your boarding station — or from the terminus if you cannot show where you started.
Fares verified July 2026. Something outdated or incorrect? Report an error →