Tokyo Subway Guide: Suica, Pasmo, JR vs Metro and Rush Hour

Tokyo does not have one subway. It has two, run by two different companies, with two different fare tables, sharing the same stations and the same underground corridors. Tokyo Metro operates nine lines and the city government's Toei operates four more. On top of that, JR East runs the overground commuter lines, including the green Yamanote loop, and a dozen private railways feed in from the suburbs. Shinjuku alone, where several of those companies meet, handled around 3.5 million passengers a day before the pandemic, enough for a Guinness record as the busiest station on Earth.

It sounds chaotic. In practice it is the easiest big-city transit system you will ever use, once you understand three things: which network you are on, how you pay, and when not to ride. Here is the 2026 version.

The Three Networks: Tokyo Metro, Toei and JR

• Tokyo Metro (9 lines): Ginza, Marunouchi, Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda, Yurakucho, Hanzomon, Namboku and Fukutoshin. The Ginza Line opened in 1927 between Ueno and Asakusa and is the oldest subway in Asia.
• Toei Subway (4 lines): Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku and Oedo. The Oedo is a loop that runs very deep, so allow a few extra minutes of escalators.
• JR East: the Yamanote Line circles central Tokyo through 30 stations (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Tokyo, Ueno, Akihabara), and the Chuo and Sobu lines cut across the middle. These are surface trains, not subway, and they are a separate company.

Every line has a letter and a color, and every station a number: Asakusa on the Ginza Line is G-19, Shibuya is G-01. Signs, maps and announcements use this system in English, so you can navigate without reading a word of Japanese. Google Maps and the Japan Transit Planner apps give accurate routes, platforms and even which car stops closest to your exit.

One more quirk: many lines through-run. A train that starts on a subway line keeps going onto a private railway with no change. That is convenient, but check the final destination on the platform screen so you do not end up in Saitama.

Suica and Pasmo in 2026: Physical Cards Are Back

Suica (from JR East) and PASMO (from the private railways and subways) are rechargeable IC cards. For a visitor they are identical: both work on every subway, JR line, bus and most convenience stores in the Tokyo area. Tap on entry, tap on exit, and the fare is deducted automatically, usually a few yen cheaper than a paper ticket.

Between 2023 and early 2025, a global chip shortage stopped sales of the standard anonymous cards. Since March 1, 2025, regular Suica and PASMO cards are on sale again at station ticket machines. Your options in 2026:

• Regular Suica or PASMO: ¥500 refundable deposit plus whatever you load. Valid for years, so keep it for your next trip.
• Welcome Suica: a tourist version with no deposit, sold at Narita and Haneda airports (machines and JR East Travel Service Centers) and at the JR offices of big stations such as Tokyo, Ueno, Shinagawa and Shibuya. It expires after 28 days and any leftover balance is not refunded, so spend it on coffee before you leave.
• Welcome PASMO: the same idea from the PASMO side, sold at the airports, also valid for 28 days.
• On your phone: with an iPhone you can add a Suica or PASMO card directly to Apple Wallet and top it up with Apple Pay. JR East also launched the Welcome Suica Mobile app for iPhone in March 2025. Android is trickier: mobile Suica only works on phones with the FeliCa chip, which mostly means Japanese-market models. If you use Android, get a physical card.

Top up cards in cash at any ticket machine (look for the "Charge" button). Keep at least ¥1,000 loaded; if your balance is too low, the gate will close on you and you fix it at the fare adjustment machine before the exit.

Tapping Your Credit Card

Since March 25, 2026, eleven Kanto rail operators, including Tokyo Metro and Toei, accept contactless credit card payments at the gates and treat a journey across their networks as one trip. Look for gates with the contactless symbol; not every turnstile has a reader. Visa, JCB and American Express work widely, but Mastercard support still depends on the operator, so check before relying on it. JR East's lines, including the Yamanote, are still built around Suica, which is why an IC card remains the simplest single solution in 2026.

Fares and the Tokyo Subway Ticket

After the fare revisions of March 14, 2026, a short Tokyo Metro ride costs around ¥180 and a short JR hop around ¥160, with IC cards paying a few yen less. Most rides across the center stay under ¥300.

The Tokyo Subway Ticket gives unlimited rides on all Tokyo Metro and Toei lines. Prices went up in March 2026:

• 24 hours: ¥1,000 (was ¥800)
• 48 hours: ¥1,500 (was ¥1,200)
• 72 hours: ¥2,000 (was ¥1,500)

Children pay half. The clock starts at first use, not at midnight. It is sold to foreign visitors showing a passport, at the airports, Tokyo Metro pass offices and selected shops and hotels. It does not cover JR, so the Yamanote Line is out. Break-even is about five or six subway rides a day: worth it if you are hopping from Asakusa to Ginza to Roppongi, not if you mostly walk one neighborhood.

Getting In From Narita

Narita is about 60 km from the center, so choose by budget:

• Keisei Skyliner: about 41 minutes to Ueno, around ¥2,570 one way (cheaper if booked online in advance). Best if you are staying in Ueno or Asakusa.
• Keisei Access Express: roughly an hour, around ¥1,300 with an IC card. Many of these trains run straight onto the Toei Asakusa Line, so you can ride from the airport to Asakusa or Nihombashi with no change.
• Narita Express (N'EX): JR, about an hour to Tokyo Station, around ¥3,070, with through trains to Shinjuku and Shibuya.
• Buses: low-cost shuttles to Tokyo Station cost around ¥1,500 and take about 70 to 90 minutes depending on traffic.

Getting In From Haneda

Haneda is much closer and much easier:

• Keikyu Line: about 13 minutes to Shinagawa for around ¥330. Many trains continue onto the Toei Asakusa Line toward Sengakuji, Nihombashi and Asakusa.
• Tokyo Monorail: about 18 to 25 minutes to Hamamatsucho for around ¥500, where you switch to the JR Yamanote.

Both accept Suica and PASMO, so buy your card at the arrivals hall and go.

Rush Hour and Etiquette

Avoid 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and roughly 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, especially on the Tozai, Chuo and Yamanote lines. Trains run every two or three minutes and are still packed beyond what seems possible. Many lines have women-only cars during the morning rush, marked in pink on the platform.

• Silence: no phone calls on board; set your phone to silent.
• Backpacks: wear them on your front or put them on the rack.
• Escalators: in Tokyo you stand on the left and walk on the right (Osaka does the opposite).
• Queues: line up at the markings on the platform and let people off first.
• Last trains: most lines stop around midnight to 12:30 a.m. and restart around 5 a.m. Missing the last train means a taxi or a night in a karaoke booth.
• Exits: big stations have dozens of exits, and Shinjuku has well over a hundred. Check your exit number on the yellow signs before you surface, or you may come out several blocks away.

Explore Tokyo with Trevurs

The subway is also the fastest way into Tokyo's history. Ride the Ginza Line to its 1927 terminus and walk "Asakusa: the District That Burned Twice and Opened Again on Monday". Get off at Sengakuji, one stop from the Haneda trains, for "The 47 Ronin: Japan's Most Famous Revenge and What It Says About Honour". Or take the Yamanote to Akihabara for "Akihabara: From Black-Market Radios to the Manga That Conquered the World". Trevurs also has "Edo: the City of a Million People Europe Didn't Know Existed" and "The Meiji Era: the Country That Reinvented Itself in One Generation". They are free, self-guided and work offline, which matters when you are 40 meters under the Oedo Line with no signal.