Tokyo public transport for visitors: Suica, Pasmo, tapping a bank card and which ticket to buy for three days

💡 The Short Version: For most visitors a Suica or Pasmo card is the ticket: it pays for the metro, JR lines and buses at the ordinary fare, and for lockers, vending machines and convenience stores. A Suica has a ¥500 refundable deposit. The 72-hour Tokyo Subway Ticket is ¥2,000 and covers only Tokyo Metro and Toei, so buy it only if your three days stay on those lines and include no JR day trip. A contactless bank card now pays at Tokyo Metro, Toei and several private railways, but not on JR, the Skyliner or the Tokyo Monorail. Trains run from about 5:00 to 24:00. The Subway Ticket on GetYourGuidead is the face price, from ¥1,000.

Tickets and cards, compared

Children aged 6 to 11 pay half on the Subway Ticket, at 500, 750 and ¥1,000. Tokyo Metro and Toei are separate companies, so a single paper ticket covers only one of them (GO TOKYO).

Ticket gates and fare machines at a Tokyo Metro station. Photo: Kakidai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Which ticket for three days

1. Arrive on the airport train, not a pass. From Haneda pay the Keikyu or monorail fare; from Narita buy a Skyliner, Narita Express or bus ticket. See Haneda and Narita. Do not buy the Subway Ticket at the airport unless you will use it that day: its clock starts at your first gate entry.
2. Then a Suica or Pasmo for the days in town. It does the metro, JR, buses, lockers and shop payments with one card.
3. The 72-hour Subway Ticket pays for itself at ten rides across three days at an average of ¥200, inside the 180 to ¥330 Tokyo Metro range. At five rides a day, which is typical for sightseeing, it saves about ¥1,000 against paying each fare.
4. It is worse than an IC card if your days lean on JR: the Yamanote Line loop, a Kamakura or Nikko day trip, or Harajuku, which is a JR station.

⚠️ The Subway Ticket’s clock starts at your first gate entry. A 24-, 48- or 72-hour ticket runs the full period from that first use (Tokyo Metro). It covers Tokyo Metro and Toei only: not the JR lines, private railways, buses or the Tokyo Monorail, and not a Japan Rail Pass.

Tokyo Subway Ticket

1,000, 1,500 or ¥2,000 · 24, 48 or 72 hours · Tokyo Metro and Toei, 13 lines

The ticket gives unlimited rides on all Tokyo Metro and Toei subway lines. It is for overseas visitors, and for domestic visitors who live outside Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Yamanashi (Tokyo Metro). Bring a passport: GO TOKYO says it is sold at Tokyo Metro pass offices, at tourist information counters in some stations, and at Bic Camera branches (GO TOKYO). It is also sold online, as a QR code or as a voucher to exchange.

• GetYourGuide sells it at the face price, from ¥1,000: the 24-, 48- or 72-hour Subway Ticketad (4.4 stars from 2,824 reviews).
• Klook and KKday sell the same ticket as a QR code or exchange voucher on Klookad and a voucher on KKdayad.
• Airport bundles: Keisei sells the Skyliner with a Subway Ticket, the ticket valid for six months from sale (keisei.co.jp). Tokyo Metro lists a Limousine and Subway Pass for both airports, and a One-Day Subway Pass from Haneda that Keikyu sells on the day, with a Keikyu return from Haneda to Sengakuji included (Tokyo Metro).

Suica and Pasmo

A Suica or Pasmo is a rechargeable IC card, one that stores a balance and works by tapping the gate reader. They are interchangeable on the network (GO TOKYO).

• Suica comes from the ticket machines at JR East stations, with a ¥500 deposit. Hand the card back at the end of your stay to reclaim it.
• Pasmo comes from the machines at private-railway and subway stations, also with a refundable deposit. At Tokyo Metro’s machines the first purchase is 1,000 to ¥10,000, including the deposit, and you can top up from ¥10 to ¥20,000 (Tokyo Metro).
• Where else it pays: most buses in the Tokyo area, some taxis, vending machines, coin lockers and convenience stores. It works across Japan, not only in Tokyo.
• On a phone: download the Suica or Pasmo app, load it, and tap in with the phone, topping up through the phone too.

Paying with a bank card

From 25 March 2026 you can tap a contactless bank card at the gates of Tokyo Metro, Toei, Odakyu, Keio, Keikyu and Tokyu, and at some Tobu and Seibu stations, in place of a ticket (Tokyo Metro).

• The fare is the ordinary ticket fare, in ¥10 steps.
• Adults only, one card per person. A card pays for one traveller.
• A transfer between Tokyo Metro and Toei is ¥70 cheaper, if you change outside the gates within 60 minutes.
• It does not work on JR lines, Keisei (the Skyliner) or the Tokyo Monorail (japan-guide.com). A Narita arrival by Skyliner or Narita Express still needs a ticket or an IC card.

When the trains run, and the rules

• Hours: trains run from about 5:00 to 24:00. The last train home is usually between 23:30 and 00:30 (GO TOKYO).
• Rush hour: about 7:30 to 9:30 and 17:30 to 19:30, and the mornings are worse.
• Women-only cars run on JR and private lines, usually the first or last car at rush hour. Children up to elementary school age, disabled passengers and their carers may also ride in them (GO TOKYO).
• On the train: queue at the marked spots and let people off first, do not eat, drink or take calls, carry a rucksack in front of you, and leave priority seats free.

Getting to the main sights

Station and exit as the operators give them.

The Yamanote Line platform at Shinjuku. Photo: W & J from Earth, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

For the ticket, the hours and the closed day at each, see Tokyo: what to book before you go. The 3 days in Tokyo itinerary puts the ones it covers in an order that keeps the rides short.

Guided transit and city highlights tours

Navigating Tokyo’s multi-operator railway labyrinth can be daunting on your first visit. Joining a knowledgeable local guide helps you master the train systems, understand transfer passages, and explore major sights seamlessly.

Best of Tokyo: Guided Full-Day City Tour with a Local

From ¥20,248 · 4.6 stars from 250 reviews · 6 hours · Public transit tour

Best of Tokyo: Guided Full-Day City Tour with a Localad explores Tokyo using the subway and rail networks, covering Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, the Imperial Palace, and Shibuya with an expert local host who handles ticket navigation and neighbourhood history.

Taxis, and sending your luggage ahead

Taxi fares start at ¥500, and the airports have fixed-fare taxis (GO TOKYO).

To send bags between an airport and your hotel, Yamato’s Airport TA-Q-BIN takes them to or from Narita and Haneda. Parcels over 30 kg are refused, send at least two days before your flight, and a ¥660 airport handling fee is added when you send a bag to the airport (Yamato).

Where next

Whether the Japan Rail Pass is worth it for a Tokyo trip is its own question: see is the Japan Rail Pass worth it. For a day out of the city, day trips from Tokyo compares the trains and the tours. Where to stay in Tokyo compares the areas by their stations, Tokyo etiquette covers the rules on the street, and money in Tokyo explains cash and cards. An eSIM for Japan keeps the map working.