Tuesday, April 4, 2006

   Tokyo Subways
I finally found my subway cards, so I can write my post now. First off, there are really only 2 ways to get around Tokyo – taxicab and subway. The subways are cheaper and you don’t have to talk to anybody. The drawback is that there are a lot of subway lines in Tokyo. I think there are 16 lines in Tokyo, 4 private lines, JR trains and a monorail. The picture below is the map for the main subway system (taken from a subway card that is now 5 years old – so it may be more complicated now)

/*** Paying ***/You can pay one of 2 ways – either you can go to a machine, look at the map and find out what the cost is for your trip and get a ticket with the exact amount – or… my way – buy a card that will cover numerous trips and not worry about it until you are getting low (when you can buy another card). The cards I bought were normally of the 1000 yen variety with the average subway trip costing less than 200 yen. You will need a separate card for each subway line that you take. They will not work on the competitor’s system. Below is a picture of a JR price map and ticket machines.

The back of the subway card is updated with station info and remaining balance (with the last zero left off for some unknown reason). Here is an example of the back of a 3000 yen card.

That’s the basics of it. The station signs in Tokyo almost always have the station names in English letters in addition to the kanji/kana writing. The maps with the prices usually do not. They do make the subway maps in English which can be very helpful if you don’t read Japanese.
They sell the cards in a number of designs for people with different tastes. It can be a cheap gift for somebody back home. Here are a few of my cards:


They also provide a nice plastic cover to protect your card. If anyone can read Japanese, feel free to translate it. I’m sure I translated it while I was there, but that was 5 years ago & I really have no idea what it says now.

/*** Other Subway Lines ***/ In addition to the main subway system there is the JR train system which has the Yamanote (sp?) Line. It is a train line that only serves Tokyo. It has a station in Akihabara, I remember that much.
Odaiba – If you want to go to Odaiba, you have to take the monorail (or a taxi). Odaiba is pretty cool for mall rats. It has some very interesting architecture in the area – most notable Fuji TV headquarters and The Big Show. It also has the world’s largest ferris wheel (that costs 900 yen to ride) and a Toyota center with a ton of cars – racing, prototypes, cars sold overseas – really quite interesting if you are into that kind of thing and of course – a mall. I am thinking that for me to go to Odaiba from Akasaka, it ended up costing about $7 round trip between the subways and monorail.
/*** Shinjuku Station ***/ A special note about Shinjuku station. It is the busiest train station in the world & it is huge. You do not just need to know that is the station you need, you will also need to make a plan for where to get out of the station. Below is a map (with a bad flash in the center) showing a map of Shinjuku station and the connecting passageways. The station and passageways are in pink. As far as I can tell it covers an area of about 6 city blocks by 10 city blocks. If you leave by the wrong exit, you may not be anywhere near the area you want.

/*** The Trains ***/ The trains are larger, hold more people and can get much more crowded than what I experienced riding BART in San Francisco. Below are a couple of pictures of one of the subway lines with longer platforms – the Chiyoda line. The exterior shot is not of the entire train, there another 2 cars behind me when I took that picture. The interior shot is during a non-busy time. Notice the fan on the ceiling. It doesn’t help that much, but when it is crowded, every little bit helps. The older lines tend to have shorter trains & end up being more densely packed than the newer lines.


/*** The Crowds***/ Yeah. My point of reference is the BART system in the San Francisco area. I have been on BART during rush hour & it is crowded. People shoulder to shoulder, unable to move – or so I thought. Tokyo subways go to a whole new level. I was only on one train that got to maximum capacity. It reached the San Francisco crowded point & then another 30-50 people came in through the door closest to me. There was an employee with white gloves that helps people get their arms and legs in before the doors close. It was beyond not being able to move – it was being crushed against the people next to you. If there was room for me to lift my legs, I would not have dropped at all. At the next stop, some people obviously wanted to get off. I didn’t but then I didn’t really have a choice. It was like being poured out of a bottle. Once you clear the doors, you head towards the side, so that once the flow stops you can try to get back on the train.
/***Subway Etiquette***/ There is not too much to know. First off – don’t expect the trains to be late. They will be on time. Be ready to get on and get off when you need to. I think the average train leaves 8 seconds after the scheduled time, so they will not be waiting for you. While I was there, the latest any train I got on was 2 minutes late. That was the only train noticeably late in 5 months riding a minimum of 2 trains per day. Boarding: People boarding the train wait to the sides of the doors to allow the people exiting to depart. The same holds true for elevators. Saying “Excuse me” – doesn’t happen. It’s crowded in Tokyo, everybody knows it is crowded, if you need to squeeze by somebody, you just do it & move on. Other people: Treat them like they are invisible. Just mind your own business. They are generally not there for social activities, just to get to where they need to go. It is kind of odd because people will act like there is nobody around them. Business men will read nudie magazines while on the subways with crowds of people around & nobody will pay any attention.

Oh yeah… one more thing – stairs. The stations often have escalators, but they may not have them at the exit you want to use. Some of the newer subways are 6 stories down, so you may get a workout trying to get out.

Until next time.
-bunraku


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