So you’ve made it to Japan, and now you need to get to all of the cool, fun places in your schedule. Well, there are several “cheap” options for transportation in Japan, but it all depends on where you want to go and how far you want to travel.

SUICA/PASMO

First, I would recommend staying in the Tokyo-area for your first trip. Trust me, there are plenty of things for you to do in one week, and you will still have plenty more to do on your next trip. And once you get to Tokyo, you should immediately get a SUICA or PASMO!

These are rechargeable cards that you scan to ride trains, subways, and buses all over Tokyo. Plus, you can go shopping with them too. This includes fast food restaurants, convenience stores, malls, and vending machines!

Most train rides from one station to another range from about $1.25 to $1.60. So for normal sight-seeing in Japan you won’t travel more than about 3-4 major stations in one day. Just charge your card with about $10 and you should be fine on most days.

If you think you will be traveling all around Tokyo, hitting multiple stations each day—via multiple forms of transportation—then you shuld buy the Tokyo Free Kippu pass.

RECOMMENDATION: Use Suica or PASMO if you know you will be staying in one city, such as the Tokyo-area, for your entire trip.

Tokyo Free Kippu Pass

Don’t let the name fool you, as it is not free. Still, the Tokyo Free Kippu, or Tokyo One-Day Pass, is a great value at about $10 US Dollars (1,720 yen).

This ticket allows you to use all subways lines (Toei and Tokyo Metro), all trains (JR and non-JR), and all buses, in Tokyo—as many times as you want. The catch—it is only valid from midnight to midnight on one day. So if you buy it at 10 pm at night, then you can only use it until midnight of that same day. So, if you are planning to use this ticket, buy it early in the morning so you can get the most value.

RECOMMENDATION: Buy the Tokyo Free Kippu Pass if you intend to travel to many different train and subway stations in Tokyo in one day.

Check it out here: TOKYO FREE PASS

BUS

Any of the various methods of transportation mentioned above–Suica, PASMO, and Tokyo Free Kippu–will allow you to use the bus system; however, trains and subways are really the most efficient way of getting around Tokyo and Japan in general.

However, if you have some extra time to spend in Tokyo, and want to be able to see Tokyo at street-level, then don’t hesitate to take the bus. Japan’s bus system is really good, and the buses are always on schedule (of course!). Be aware that the bus system can be a bit confusing, so be sure to research the buses you want to take before you go.

Buses are also a very cheap method of traveling between cities, as the average cost of a bus from Tokyo to Osaka is about $26 US Dollars (3,500 yen). The main problem is that this trip will usually take about 8 hours–the shinkansen will get you there in about 3 hours 40 minutes. So if you have to go by bus, then you should try and take the overnight buses. This way, you are at least getting some sleep on the long drive.

RECOMMENDATION: Don’t take the bus unless you have some (or a lot) extra time to spare.

BUDGET AIR TRAVEL

If you want to take the “Golden Route” through Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto during your first trip–and you don’t have a lot of extra time to spend on an overnight bus–then a wonderful option are budget airlines. My personal favorite is Skymark, because they have some great budget flights AND you get to ride on a Pokemon themed plane!

Budget flights will range from $25 to $70 USD, and most of the flights I’ve gotten between Kobe and Tokyo were in the $36 USD range. And it was such a fast flight–only 1 hour and 20 minutes! After that, it was a quick train ride to the main parts of the cities.

RECOMMENDATION: Try and book your flights early, as the cost will go down if you book in advance.

TAXIS

Taxis are not a cheap method of travel in Japan. This shouldn’t be a surprise.

Also, most Japanese taxi drivers do not speak English very well, so expect that the usual language barrier will be there. So know how to say where you want to go in Japanese, or at least take a picture of the Japanese address you want to travel to—this will allow the driver to see exactly where you want to go in Japanese.

The only time I actually used a taxi was when I traveled to the old Tsukiji Market at 4 am, since I had never been to that area of Japan and had to arrive early enough to join the Tsukiji Market tour. By the way, I miss those old tours since you were literally next to the auction–checkout the video here:

RECOMMENDATION: Don’t take taxis, unless there isn’t a train available or you just want to throw-away some of your Pokémon, maid café, and manga money.

JR PASS

I didn’t forget about the Japan Rail Pass, but it simply does not make sense for the vast majority of budget travelers to Japan anymore. For those that don’t know, it is a pass that allows you to travel on all Japan Railway trains, including shinkansen (bullet trains), JR Buses, and JR ferries. They sell it for periods of one week, two weeks, or three weeks.

HOWEVER, a few years ago the price of the past was hiked by 70%! How bad was this change?

Note: These are prices for the Ordinary JR Pass. There is also a Green JR Pass which is more expensive. The main difference is that the Green JR Pass allows you into the first-class areas—though it is not necessary if you do not want to.

AT $325 USD for a one-week pass, you would need to take at least 3 shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka–plus use it within the cities quite a bit–in order for you to get your value out of it. You would likely be able to book 10 budget flights for that same price!

This really hurts to write, because I used the JR Pass so much when I first started traveling to Japan. But for those that don’t mind spending a bunch of money, there are some silver linings. For example, the great thing about the JR Pass is that you can ride all JR trains for as many times as you want during the set period. This means that you can travel between cities like Kyoto and Osaka on a daily basis—they are only 20-30 minutes apart via shinkansen.  Note that you can only ride the Hikari Shinkansen—the second fastest bullet train—and not the Nozomi. So don’t get on the wrong one!

In Tokyo, the JR Pass allows you to travel via the JR Yamanote line. This is the JR train with a lime-green stripe which allows you to travel to all major areas of Tokyo—Shibuya, Akihabara, Ueno, Tokyo Station, Ikebukuro, Yoyogi, and more!

But the JR Pass also has certain rules:

• Only foreigners can buy a JR Pass, when they are tourists or staying in Japan on a temporary basis—make sure you get the right stamp at immigration
  • So if you are in Japan as a student, or working for an extended period you are not eligible

• You can only buy it when you are outside of Japan—YOU CANNOT BUY IT WHEN YOU ARE IN JAPAN
• You have to bring the magical exchange order they send you via mail, so that you can exchange it for your pass in Japan.

RECOMMENDATION: Do not get the JR Pass unless you are looking to travel across major areas of Japan many times, and over many long distances. Otherwise, it is NOT worth the price.

You can purchase your JR Pass here: JR PASS

GO KARTS

OK, so this isn’t a legitimate way to travel around Japan, but its a great way to have some fun in Akihabara.

Yes, you can travel around Tokyo in your very own Kart thanks to StreetKart, a company that has made many peoples’ video game dreams come true.

You need to have a valid driver’s license—Japanese or International—in order to hop in on the fun. But aside from that, StreetKart supplies everything else…including the awesome cosplay costumes.

Prices at StreetKart are about $154 US Dollars for two hours, and $68 US Dollars (8,500 yen) if you join their Facebook page.

StreetKart can be found here: StreetKart

RECOMMENDATION: Definitely try these out if you are in Akihabara, so you can live-out your Go Kart dreams.