Which railway pass or daily pass is the best for traveling to Tokyo?

Tokyo offers various railway pass options and there are a lot of transportation ways including subways, JR trains, and buses.

One unique aspect of Japan’s transit system is that multiple operators run these services, so passengers often have to pay an additional fare when transferring between different lines.

This can make travel costs in Japan relatively high. In this guide, I’ll introduce rail passes and day passes tailored to different needs to help you save on transportation costs while traveling in Japan.

Japan has many spots you can visit for free. For more details, click here.

As a result, you may need to budget more for transportation expenses.

However, JR (Japan Railways) is a major player in the transportation network, and they offer options like the Japan Rail Pass and day passes, which can be cost-effective for frequent travelers.

In Japan, There are useful cards which we can use almost all of the transportations in Japan.

I will compare some transportation option to make your Tokyo trips easier and cheaper

If you would like to know which places you should go for free in Tokyo, click this

Using an ID Card every time

There are two representative IC cards in Japan: Suica and Pasmo.

Currently, physical card sales are temporarily suspended, but you can register them on Apple Pay or Google Pay.

And In some cases, paying with an IC card can be cheaper than paying with cash for buses and other forms of transportation.

Generally, a single bus ride fare around 220 yen, and a single train fare averages about 300 yen. Therefore, using both the train and the bus from your hotel for just one direction would cost about 550 yen, which is approximately 5 dollars.

Additionally, the remaining balance on your IC card can be used at places like convenience stores and supermarkets that accept it. So, you don’t need to worry too much about the balance—you can top it up without hesitation.

Using One Day Pass

As I mentioned before, Japan has unique transportation systems which is not managed by a single national or unified authority. So there are many one day passes in Tokyo.

And I will compare those passes below this.

Explore How to purchase a pass

Tokyo 1 day Ticket – railway pass in Tokyo

This one-day pass allows unlimited use of major transportation systems such as the Toei Subway and JR.

An important feature of this pass is that it also covers Toei buses. And the price of this pass is not expensive to travel around Tokyo. So personally, this pass is the most reasonable.

Tokyo Metropolitan District Pass (Tokunai Pass) – railway pass in Tokyo

This pass is the most affordable among the three options. It covers only major stations and is recommended for those who want to visit popular tourist attractions. However, please note that it does not include bus services.

NONBIRI Holiday Suica Pass – railway pass in Tokyo

It’s particularly recommended for those who wish to explore some of the suburbs of Tokyo.

Because if you buy express pass, you also can take on the express train(except Shinkansen), and Rinkai Line and Tokyo Mondrail are available.

However, if you do not plan to travel to the suburbs, this pass may not be considered cost-effective.

Summary

Based on my servey, for those who want to thoroughly explore Tokyo, the Tokyo One Day Pass is recommended. However, if you only plan to visit a limited number of places or if your hotel is not located along JR Lines or Tokyo Metro lines, the Tokunai Pass would be a better option than the Tokyo One Day Pass.

Bonus Tip: How to Get to Disney?

Visiting Tokyo Disney resort must be the enjoyable experience especially the person who are crazy about Disney!

However before you will head to Disney, you are going to bother which transportations you should use such as train, bus, and car.

Once you can figure out the best transportation for you, your travel to Tokyo Disney Resort must be fun!

Guide of Tokyo Disney Resort

If you heard about Tokyo, you can imagine that Tokyo Disney Resort should be in Tokyo.

However, Tokyo Disney Resort is in Chiba prefecture which is next to Tokyo.

So you need to take public transport to get there.

And there are two amusement parks which are Tokyo Disney Sea and Tokyo Disney Land.

It sounds similar but there are some differences between them.
Personally, Tokyo Disney sea is mainly for adults and Tokyo Disney land is mainly for children.

I think the thrill of some attractions in Tokyo Disney Sea is more thrilling than Tokyo Disney Land and you can enjoy alcohol in Tokyo Disney Sea.

However, both of them make you enjoyable. So I strongly recommend to visit both.

Transportation of Train

This transportation is the cheapest way to go to Tokyo Disney Resort from Shinjuku Station. The cheapest way to get there is ¥406 and This cheapest option is also the fastest one compared to the others.

However, if you would like to get in Disney Sea or Land to ride the new attractions, you would rather go fast, especially at that time you need to face the rash hours of commuting. Normally, you need to wait for a long time to play the new attractions.

If you would like to explore more about some transportations of trains, please visit here

Transportation of Bus

Personally, this is the best transportation to go to Tokyo Disney Resort. There are various buses to go to Tokyo Disney Resort and they offer the various price.

However, this is the most comfortable option to go because once you take the bus, you don’t have to be in the rush hour commuting.

And also the price of the bus is not too expensive, which is around ¥1000.
But if you would like to use the bus, you would rather go to the bus stop earlier because they don’t accept the reservation.

The way to get the ticket of bus from Shinjuku Station to Tokyo Disney Resort is Go to Busta Shinjuku, where you’ll find the bus terminal on the 4th floor. When you get to the bus terminal, you’ll see a ticket machine there. Please make your reservation using that machine

Stay overnight in advance.

When I went to Disney with my family, we stayed at a hotel the night before. The reason for this is that staying overnight allows you to avoid the morning rush hour and get to Disney stress-free.

Additionally, for families with children, staying overnight can help prevent fatigue for the kids.

If you would like to explore about the hotel, please click this link

Transportation of Car

In Japan, you need to pay the fee for using the highway road and the fare typically ranges from ¥1,000 to ¥2,000 one-way, depending on the season.