Your first 24 hours in Japan
You have landed, you are tired, and everything is in a script you cannot read. This is the short version: how to get out of the airport, how to pay for things, and where to eat tonight.
Every figure on this page carries the source it came from and the date we checked it. Where we have not checked a figure ourselves, the page says so instead of printing a number.
Narita into Tokyo
Narita is an hour from the middle of Tokyo whatever you take. The question is how much of that hour you spend standing, and how much you mind paying for a seat.
- Keisei Skyliner, bought onlineNippori and Keisei-Ueno¥2,31036 min
The cheapest way to have a reserved seat. Buy it before you land and you save on the counter price.
Keisei Electric Railway, Skyliner Discount Ticket page (Englchecked 2026-09-23 - Keisei Skyliner, bought at the airportNippori and Keisei-Ueno¥2,58036 min
Same train, counter price.
Keisei Electric Railway, official Skyliner ticket page (Japachecked 2026-09-23 - Keisei main line limited expressNippori and Ueno¥1,030
No reservation, no guaranteed seat, half the money. Fine with hand luggage, hard with a suitcase at rush hour.
Keisei Electric Railway, Rapid Limited Express / Limited Expchecked 2026-09-23 - Narita Express, return ticketTokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku¥6,28053 min
Goes deeper into the city than the Skyliner, and the return ticket is the only version worth buying.
JR East, N'EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket page (English); page fchecked 2026-09-23 - Airport Limousine busShinjuku¥3,600
Door to hotel door, no stairs, no changes. The slowest option and the one to take with a big case or a small child.
Airport Limousine (Tokyo Airport Transportation Co.), officichecked 2026-09-23
Haneda into Tokyo
Haneda is the closer airport and the cheaper ride. If your flight gives you a choice of airport, this is the one.
- Keikyu lineShinagawa, then anywhere¥33011 min
The cheapest and usually the fastest. Some trains run straight on into the Asakusa subway line without a change.
Keikyu Corporation official station fare table PDF, KK16 Hanchecked 2026-09-23 - Tokyo Monorail, with an IC cardHamamatsucho, then the Yamanote line¥51920 min
The view is better than the price suggests.
Tokyo Monorail official station fare table PDF, Haneda Airpochecked 2026-09-23 - Airport Limousine busShinjuku and Nakano¥1,40035 min
Door to hotel door.
Airport Transport Service Co. (Airport Limousine) official rchecked 2026-09-23 - Airport Limousine busShibuya¥1,30040 min
40 minutes is from the airport operator: "Haneda Airport -> Shibuya Station approx. 40 minutes". The Keikyu train to Shinagawa plus one Yamanote stop reaches Shibuya for roughly a third of this and is usually faster — say so, or the bus looks better than it is.
Airport Transport Service Co. (Airport Limousine) official rchecked 2026-09-23
The IC card, and paying for things
One card gets you through every gate and most convenience stores. Get it before you leave the airport.
- TOURIST PASMO at Narita¥2,000
A visitor's card sold at the airport. No deposit to get back at the end.
PASMO Committee press release, 17 April 2026 (PDF, mirrored checked 2026-09-23 - A regular Suica, the deposit part¥500
You pay a deposit for the card itself on top of the money you load onto it. You get the deposit back if you return the card.
JR East (East Japan Railway Company), official English sitechecked 2026-09-23 - Topping up¥500
What the machines add at a time.
JR East, official English sitechecked 2026-09-23 - Tapping a foreign credit card instead¥70
Tokyo Metro and Toei now take a contactless card straight at the gate. This is what you save when a journey crosses from one company to the other.
Tokyo Metro, official English Tap to Ride pagechecked 2026-09-23 - Cash from a Japan Post ATM¥220
The fee the bank charges a foreign card.
Japan Post Bank, official International ATM Service pagechecked 2026-09-23 - Cash from a Seven Bank ATM¥100,000
In every 7-Eleven, open when the shop is. This is the most it will give you at once.
Seven Bank, official English page for overseas cardschecked 2026-09-23
Getting online
An eSIM bought before you fly is the least trouble: you land already connected. If you did not, the airport counters are open late.
- eSIM, a week, enough for maps and messages¥1,650
Price is the online/self-serve price. I did not verify that the airport counter charges the same for a walk-up purchase — counter prices are frequently higher (JAL ABC, below, charges 25% more at the counter). Speed drops to 256 kbps after the allowance.
AnyFone JAPAN (operator; has staffed counters at Narita T1 Cchecked 2026-09-23 - eSIM, a week, uncapped¥4,690
Online price. 'Unlimited' is the operator's word; I did not verify any fair-use throttle clause.
AnyFone JAPANchecked 2026-09-23 - eSIM, a month¥5,810
20 GB over a month is tight for a traveller using maps and streaming daily; 30 GB/30 days is ¥9,900. Online price, counter price not verified.
AnyFone JAPANchecked 2026-09-23 - A pocket router, per day¥300–¥1,390
Worth it only for a group: one router, several phones.
WiFiBOX (Telecom Square Inc.)checked 2026-09-23
Sending the suitcase ahead
Hand your case to a counter in the arrivals hall and collect it at the hotel. It is the single best thing a first-time visitor does not know about, and it is what turns the first afternoon from a struggle into a walk.
- Haneda to a central hotel, same day, cabin-size case¥910
Strikingly cheap because, unlike the Narita counter, no ¥660 airport fee and no ¥550 same-day fee are folded in. Haneda T1 is the DOMESTIC terminal — an international arrival lands at T3, where Sagawa has no counter, so this price is only reachable by walking or riding between terminals.
Sagawa Express — Sagawa Haneda Airport Terminal 1 Delivery Cchecked 2026-09-23 - Narita or Haneda to a Tokyo hotel, next day, medium case¥1,890
Cashless ¥1,881. Standard (next-day) service. Same direction caveat as Size 60.
Yamato Transport — Airport TA-Q-BIN rate data filechecked 2026-09-23 - Haneda to a Tokyo hotel, same day, medium case¥2,750–¥2,890
Same-day tariff.
Yamato Transport — Same-day Delivery to and from Haneda Airpchecked 2026-09-23 - Narita or Haneda to the Tokyo area, large case¥1,950
The Narita table and the Haneda table carry identical figures for Kanto. JAL ABC is NOT same-day for this product: "※The earliest possible date will be the next day or later."
JAL ABC, Inc. — Sending luggage from the airportchecked 2026-09-23 - What they will cover if it goes wrong¥300,000
The Haneda page adds that for damaged parts (casters, handles) only repair cost is covered, never a replacement suitcase.
Yamato Transport — Airport TA-Q-BIN (English), Precautionschecked 2026-09-23
Where to eat tonight
Close to where the airport trains put you down, from places the Japanese press named this month. We do not know their opening hours, so look before you walk.
- 中華・洋食 やよいUeno and Nippori, off the Skyliner
A neighbourhood diner for Chinese and Western plates. Hanako's writer singles out the ramen for doing nothing extra, so the soup comes through clean.
Hanakochecked