You will probably stand rooted to the ticket machine if you fall into the following circumstances and think about what you should do to buy a ticket.
- When you know the route chart is written in no English but only in Japanese
- When you look at the monitor of ticket machine, a hard-to-understand matrix of some digits of numbers appears in a monitor without any explanation in English.
- When you understand some digits of numbers are faring and you have to find the fare from the route chart which put fares down with the destinations
- When you are at lost, you don’t know how to read the chart and find the fare to the destination.
I admit the Japanese ticket buying system is one of the most complicated systems in the world. Even though I am Japanese, I don’t know how many times I needed the assistance of station staff to buy a ticket.
If I go to another region or prefecture, I will be in the same circumstances with foreigners who come to Japan for the first time. I don’t know how to read a route chart. Even before that, I don’t know the names of stations in the region so I don’t know which railway line has the station that I am heading for and I don’t know what the previous station name is next to my destination station.
After all, I google detailed information about how much the fare is, and which line I need to get on.
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Get IC card even if you are a traveller
The most important point is how you can reach the destination smoothly. Leaning how to read route chart and buy a sigle ticket takes you a waste of time.
The solution is….
- Get Metro or JR IC card
- Check the service status, fare, how to get there online
If you satisfy the above two conditions, you can go wherever you want to by train.
What is an IC card?
IC cards are rechargeable cards that can be used to conveniently pay fares on public transportation and to make payments at a rapidly increasing number of vending machines, shops and restaurants with an IC card by simply touching the card on a reader for about one second.
You can get the Metro or JR IC card with a ticket machine or at the ticket office. It costs you 500 yen. You can top up from 1000 yen. The types of bills you can charge into the balance of an IC card are 1000yen, 5000yen, 10000yen.
Each type of train IC cards circulated in all railway system of all the regions is linked mutually
There are 10 types of train IC cards all over Japan. In the Kanto region, there are primarily two types of IC cards which is “Pasmo” and “Suica” circulated in Kanto railway system. Those types of IC cards are linked mutually. Even if you get on JR line, you can go through ticket gate with Pasmo IC card issued by Tokyo Metro. In contrast, even if you go on the Tokyo Metro line, you go through the ticket gate with Suica IC card issued by JR.
IC cards also play a role of debit card
You can buy something at shops or stores which affiliate with this IC card system. You can check the IC card available stores from here .
Basically, the balance of a top-uped IC card is not refundable. So you don’t have a plan to use the train while you are in Japan anymore until you return back home, you can use up the listed stores to buy some souvenirs for your friends.
How you can get on train without knowing fare and railway route chart
It has become a convenient world. If you google your starting point and destination, a transfer chart will come out on search results.
If you want to look for more effective route that takes you to the destination faster, there are plenty of railway search service online. You just google it and find a service which suites for you.
If you don’t know how much you need to get to the destination, you just top up a minimum bill (1000yen) into its balance at any rate. If the balance of your IC card is insufficient to get to the destination, you can pay shortfall of the balance with ticket adjustment machine at the destination station.
That’s it! Very simple right? Maybe someone hesitates to invest a train IC card with the reason of not a resident but just a traveler. When you think about the time you stand rooted and consult a route chart constantly equipped on the wall until you understand, it is quite advantageous for you to invest your 500 yen to IC card and allocate the time for sightseeing, isn’t it? You should enjoy receiving the convenience of the railway system in Japan.
4 steps to go where you want to by train
- Google your starting point and destination and save the transfer chart
- Buy an IC card at ticket machine or ticket office.
- Top up 1000 yen with an IC card
- If your IC card is rejected by a ticket gate to go through, pay shortfall of the balance of IC card at fare adjustment machine or ticket window.
Take your IC card back home as one of evidence that you enjoy travelling around Japan. Enjoy your trip!