Navigating the Tokyo subway

I realize getting around Tokyo probably isn’t a top priority for most people these days, but as I was there recently (before the earthquake) and will be back in a few months escorting some newcomers to the city, I thought it might be a good idea to write down some of my thoughts.

Tokyo has an extensive subway and light rail system (not to mention the superb inter-city trains as well). There is almost nowhere you can’t get to in Tokyo via the subway or the JR (Japanese Rail) lines. It is for this reason coupled with the fact that taxis are extremely expensive, that I highly recommend making yourself familiar with the subway/JR system.

A quick glance at the map (PDF version) can be quite overwhelming, but once you spend a few minutes figuring it out, it isn’t too bad. In particular, it useful to distinguish the JR lines (in particular the JR Yamanote line which circles central Tokyo) from the subway lines as the JR lines run above ground and so switching lines may not be as simple as changing trains inside a station. That being said, as long as you follow the signs, it isn’t too hard to find them from each other. However, I should point out that even connecting between subway lines you might be required to walk quite a distance, exiting and later re-entering the ticket area, and even possibly go outside to get to a connecting line at the same station. A good example of this is at the Kuramae station where switching between the Asakusa and Oedo lines requires leaving the station and walking nearly a quarter of a mile around the block to get to the other line at that same station. There really isn’t a good way to predict this, so just be prepared that not all connections can be made in a timely fashion. That being said, the trains themselves run like clockwork, it’s just the time between trains which is not guaranteed.

If you look closely at the map, you will notice that there are many separate lines which are operated by different companies (with different fare systems) which can make paying for your trip complicated if you don’t have either Suica or PASMO prepaid fare card.

Having one of these cards is invaluable if you want to be able to move around Tokyo easily and without a lot of drama. I would recommend Suica over PASMO as it can be used outside of Tokyo as well as the fact that many stores and restaurants accept Suica as a mechanism of payment (just like using a debit card). There is a very detailed page over at Japan-Guide.com, which is well worth a read, that describes the subtle differences between the cards as well as how to use them in practice.

One issue that is not particularly well covered (in my opinion) by the Japan-Guide.com site is how to actually obtain one of these cards. The site explains that a card can be obtained from one of the many Suica machines (shown on the left) that you will find in every station. However, my experience has been that this is only true for the pink colored machines (not shown) and possibly the blue colored machines as well, but I’m not positive about that. Furthermore, most stations seem to only have the standard green charging-only machines as opposed to the pink or blue dispensing ones. Realistically, your best bet is to get a Suica card right after you land at the airport. The JR ticket office at Narita airport (below) offers a great deal on a Suica card in conjunction with a ticket for the Narita Express. No interaction with machines is required although you may need to point to a picture of a Suica card on the wall in case your Japanese or their English isn’t quite up to the challenge. Apparently, there is a similar deal available to people arriving at Haneda airport for a monorail ticket and a Suica card. I’ve never flown into Haneda so I can’t speak to that experience.

One last thing, while the stations and maps are usually well labeled in English inside the JR Yamanote line, once you get a bit further out, most of the maps become Japanese only. It is well worth it to purchase an subway map in your native language (be sure to get one which includes the JR lines). In addition, it might also be worth learning the Kanji symbols for the important station names on your journey (particularly the one nearest your hotel).

Calling home

I travel frequently and whenever I travel abroad, I always seem to rack up a rather large mobile phone bill because I call home frequently to speak with the family who can be rather chatty when I’m away. As such, I’m constantly working to minimize these costs by signing up for international calling plans and using Skype whenever possible. However, tonight I discovered a new weapon in my arsenal … Google Chat Voice. Google Chat Voice allows you to make completely free phone calls to the US and Canada from within Gmail. I didn’t quite believe it at first. I assumed I would only get my first call free like with Skype, but that does not appear to be the case. I made two calls this evening from my hotel room in Japan to the US and both were definitely free (it actually displays the word “Free” once you enter a US number into the keypad) and the call quality was great. If you haven’t tried this out yet, I highly recommend it.

In addition to now being able to make phone calls through Google Chat, you can also send free SMS messages. The only catch is that you are given an allotment of 50 messages which only get replenished when people reply to your texts. I suppose this is designed to be an abuse prevention mechanism which makes sense. All in all, I’m very excited about this new discovery and am hopeful that I’ll be able to keep my mobile phone bill down in the future.

Update (11/11/11) – As of September, it no longer appears to be free to call the US from international destinations (at least from Ireland). That being said it is still very cheap and convenient.

Dealing with wired internet access

I really hate when I check into a hotel only to discover that the advertised Internet access is wired. The location of the Ethernet jack and the length of the (sometimes provided) cable are both almost always inadequate. To make matters worse, many of the devices I travel with these days are wireless only (e.g. iPhone, iPad, etc.). Fortunately, I’ve discovered two options to work around this problem:

1. Make your own wireless network

To make your own wireless network, all you need is a standard wireless router (nothing fancy here) which you can plug into the provided wired connection. In fact, I am right now posting this through a personal wireless network off of my wired hotel Internet connection using a Cisco-Linksys E2000 Advanced Wireless-N Router and it is working like a champ. This is also a great solution if you have multiple wireless devices, are sharing the room with another person or have a group of people in the room all of whom would like Internet access.

The only real major caveat to this approach is that you have to bring the router with you (and don’t forget the power cable) which can be a pain. As an aside, you might want to preconfigure the router at home so that you can make sure it works and you know how to connect all of your devices to it. Furthermore, choose a wireless access password that you will remember (I was bit by this today unfortunately) or get yourself a label maker and put the password right on the device so you’ll never forget it.  Just to be clear, I’m not advocating using password labels like this more broadly, but it is a simple fix for this specific case where other people won’t have physical access to the router.

2. Bring the Internet with you

An alternative option to converting the hotel’s wired network into a personal wireless one is to simply bring your own wireless Internet access with you. This can be accomplished using a variety of different mobile hotspots like MiFi devices from either Verizon or Virgin Mobile. The great thing about these is that they just work. You simply turn the device on and you’re pretty much good to go to connect to the newly created hotspot. In addition to being simple to use, you have the benefit of not being throttled by the slow connection provided by the hotel. The downside to this option is that you have to pay for it and you likely have a bandwidth cap depending on your plan.

A similar option is to share your phone’s Internet connection through tethering. This is something offered by a variety of different phones now but again it isn’t free and your total bandwidth will be limited by your mobile phone’s data plan. AT&T just started offering this for the iPhone in the US within the past year, but unfortunately you cannot add tethering to your plan if you have the unlimited data plan which means that I probably won’t be adding that anytime soon.

I think that both options have merit and value independent of each other. The main advantage to the first option is that the cost is minimal and you can use this solution anywhere that you have wired Internet access unlike the second option which is reliant on cellular coverage and may not work outside of your home country. It really comes down to how often you have wired access available and whether you are going to be traveling abroad with any frequency.