Learn Tokyo Trains by Getting Lost?

Since our first visit to Tokyo, we were hooked. There is so much to see and do in Tokyo but if you want to see and experience the city, you have to learn the train system which can be overwhelming. Just look at the metro map and you will be amazed at the amount of trains and lines. 


We will create a post that will be dedicated to taking the train in Tokyo. On our first trip, we got lost. We took a bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo and we ended at the Tokyo Station. From there, part of our tour group wanted to go to Shinjuku, another group wanted to go directly to the hotel we were staying at in Ueno and the third group was undecided. 

We wanted to see Shinjuku so we went with a group that wanted to explore that part of the city. I don't remember who decided what but we followed and we got there. I remembered getting lost after getting off the train because we were faced with so many exits. Did you know Shinjuku has over 200 exits?

We enjoyed finding the Godzilla on the roof, attending the robot show at the Robot Restaurant and wearing a samurai outfit at the Samurai Museum. Then it was time to catch the train back to Ueno. Good luck! We were lucky to have Brenda and her sister lead the way. Brenda had Google Maps and figured out we needed to take a train to Tokyo Station, transfer to another train to get to Ueno. 

On our second trip to Tokyo, we promised we were going to learn the train system and confront our fears. We got so comfortable with the trains that we would start the day by taking a train to Shibuya for a sushi lunch then hop on to another train to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku for a panorama view of the city. We walked around Shinjuku then hopped on a train to Asakusa where we walked to the Asahi Skyroom for a beer. After that, we took a train home to Kinschicho.





On a third trip, we thought we were masters of the train system but on our last day, we got lost on the way to the Narita airport. We started at the Higashi-Nihonbashi station and walked underground to the JR line where we took the JO train towards Narita. On the way there, we kept hearing the announcement that the train was not going all the way to Narita. Our Google Maps said otherwise so we stayed on. True enough, the train stopped and everybody had to get off the train. I checked Google Maps and couldn't find any trains going to Narita. We were lost. We decided to ask a local for help. Unfortunately, no one spoke English. We finally found one man who tried to help. He said to follow him to Chiba. At Chiba, we found the Narita Express that took us terminal 1.

Tips to come...


Location: Tokyo, Japan

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