2012 Tokyo – Itinerary & transportation

This was my very first time travel to Japan and I have been reading a lot of Japanese comic and novel since I was small. I imagined a lot while I was reading. I love every single that had illustrated in the comic and books, from the food mochi, red bean-macha ice, bendo to clothing & building like kimono, Cosplay, Tokyo tower and temple. How could I missed all these things, when I have the chances to pay a pilgrimage to Japan??

Actually, I had planned more than this, but due to time constraint we only managed to visit to the place shown as below,



Itinerary
Day 1: Haneda Airport --> Sotetsu Fresa Inn Hamamatsucho Daimon
Day 2: Koganei Park江戶東京たてもの園」(江戶東京建築園) --> Kawagoe-shi, Saitama川越小江户 --> Shinjuku新宿-歌舞伎町
Day 3: Tsukiji Fish Market筑地市场 --> Sensoji Temple浅草寺 --> Tokyo Sky Tree吾妻橋 --> Yokohama International Port Terminal 横滨 (原町，山下公园，中华街，横滨大栈桥) --> Tsukishima月島 – つきしま  (dinner 文字烧(MONNJYA YAK)
Day 4: The imperial Palace皇居外苑 --> Nippori  日暮里 (谷中银座，谷中猫町)--> Nedujinja根津神社 à Ginza
Day 5: Taokao San 高尾山頂 --> Kichijōji吉祥寺 --> Tokyo Tower
Day 6: Tokyo tower --> Akihabara秋叶原 --> Shibuya涉谷 --> Daimon à Haneda Airport

Forget about the taxi I took on the first day, I took tourist bus and tube all the time. There are a list of subway that operated by a dozen different company which cost slightly different to travel to the same destination. Looking at the spider net of Tokyo subway map, I felt dizzy and immediately shut the window tab off. It was kind of complicate to me, so I found an alternative way, it help me to find the best route to my destination yet its result even shown the travel time, cost and which tube & station to transit.  I used it to plan my itinerary, without spending me too much of time and good understanding on all the subway map/company.

Plan your itinerary with subway planner at - Tokyo subway planner

Yamanote Line and Toei Odesen are 2 lines that I used most in my trip. You cant avoid from Yamanote line as it covered most of the attraction yet it is the cheapest line I would say. Toei Odesen line is near to my accommodation and it could bring me to fish market and Roppongi. To travel on subway, we bought Suica (or you could choose Pasmo card, is just the same) and reload around 1000 yen almost everyday.

Not to forget I am on budget trip, I wouldn't let go any chances of cutting down the cost on EVERYTHING. There is something named travel pass in the world, and its is design for budget traveler. I love everything with a name of cheap/budget, so I love passes. Some of the passes will help you save a fortune, and allow me to spend more on food!! But some of them might not save even a penny for you, yet cost you a lot more, it highly depends on your itinerary. So make sure you have a list of must go destination on hand before you bury your head in the passes/ticket fare list.

There are 2 passes that I was really interested in, and considered to use in my trip (apologize that I did not do a very detail survey on all passes, I have filtered the passes that is easy to use and convenience to be used in my journey. Yet, I have listed out the passes available in Tokyo at the end of this article for your references.)

1. Airport to city + one day subway pass
Keikyu Haneda/Subway pass (adult: 1300 yen, child: 650yen) - More information on Tokyo Metro Pass
Available only in Tourism counter in Airport and it closed around 1030pm.

2. Tokyo Metro Open Ticket (1-day: 710 yen; 2-day: 980 yen)
Toei Oedo-sen (都営大江戸線)
I failed to used Keikyu Haneda/Subway pass, due to my late arrival in the airport where the tourism counter has been closed. If you wanna save cost please do not arrived in the airport after 8pm, as the custom took me 1-2hours for queuing up. (Further reading on my 2012 Japan - Spend RM2800 & travel 5 days around Tokyo – Inventory, Flight ticket & travelling seasons)

To prevent myself from unable to find out the desired subway, I printed the itinerary out with the station and subway that would direct me to the destination. Its helped a lot during the trip, I show my itinerary to the railway staff pointing on the destination or subway, not even needing me or him to speak a word, he found the platform for me.

List of passes in Tokyo, Japan

	Tokyo Free Kippu (1580 yen)
	Unlimited use of all subway lines (Toei and Tokyo Metro) and JR trains in the central Tokyo area on one calendar day. It is also valid on buses and streetcars operated by Toei. The pass is overpriced and will unlikely provide any savings over regular tickets or prepaid cards.
	Toei and Tokyo Metro One-Day Economy Pass (1000 yen)
	Unlimited use of all subway lines (Toei and Tokyo Metro) on one calendar day. The pass only pays off if you use the subways excessively. The pass is not valid on JR trains.
	Tokyo Metro Open Ticket (1-day: 600 or 710 yen; 2-day: 980 yen)
	Unlimited use of the nine Tokyo Metro subway lines, but not the four Toei subway lines and JR trains. A regular one day pass costs 710 yen, while a tourist version is available for 600 yen (one day) and 980 yen (two consecutive days). The tourist version is only available to foreign tourists at Narita Airport and Haneda Airport.
	Toei One-Day Economy Pass (700 yen)
	Unlimited use of the four Toei subway lines, buses and streetcars on one calendar day. It is not valid on the nine Tokyo Metro subway lines and JR trains.
	Tokunai Pass (730 yen)
	Unlimited use of JR trains in the central Tokyo area on one calendar day.