到着 · Arrivals

Your first
24 hours

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.

Narita into Tokyo

5 ways in, cheapest first

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. Fares checked on the operators' own pages, 2026.09.23.

  1. Keisei main line limited expressto Nippori and UenoCheapest
    ¥1,030No reservation, no guaranteed seat, half the money. Fine with hand luggage, hard with a suitcase at rush hour. Keisei Electric Railway, Rapid Limited Express and Limited Express fares from major stations ↗
  2. Keisei Skyliner, bought onlineto Nippori and Keisei-Ueno
    ¥2,310The 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 ↗
  3. Keisei Skyliner, bought at the airportto Nippori and Keisei-Ueno
    ¥2,580Same train, counter price. Keisei Electric Railway, Skyliner ticket page (Japanese) ↗
  4. Airport Limousine busto Shinjuku
    ¥3,600Door 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.), Shinjuku area to Narita Airport page ↗
  5. Narita Express, return ticketto Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku
    ¥6,280Goes 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) ↗

Before you leave the airport

Four things, in this order

The IC card, and paying for things 7

One card gets you through every gate and most convenience stores. Get it before you leave the airport.

Getting online 4

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¥1,650The online price; we have not checked whether the airport counter charges the same. Speed drops to 256 kbps after the allowance. AnyFone JAPAN, eSIM products with fixed data ↗ · checked 2026.09.23
  • eSIM, a week, uncapped¥4,690The online price. 'Unlimited' is the operator's word; we have not checked for a fair-use limit. AnyFone JAPAN ↗ · checked 2026.09.23
  • eSIM, a month¥5,810The online price; we have not checked the counter. 20 GB is tight for a month of maps and video: the operator's 30 GB, 30-day plan is ¥9,900. AnyFone JAPAN ↗ · checked 2026.09.23
  • A pocket router, per day¥300Worth it only for a group: one router, several phones. WiFiBOX (Telecom Square Inc.) ↗ · checked 2026.09.23
Sending the suitcase ahead 5

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.

Dinner tonight, off the airport train

Close to where the airport trains put you down, from places the Japanese press named. Where the article printed opening hours they are in the note; otherwise look before you walk.

食TK中華・洋食 やよいUeno and Nippori, off the SkylinerA neighbourhood diner for Chinese and Western plates. Hanako's writer singles out the ramen for doing nothing extra, so the soup comes through clean.Named by Hanako食OS551HORAI 本店Namba, off the Rapi:tThe main shop of 551 Horai, a short walk from Namba: pork buns wrapped by hand, two for ¥460 to take to the hotel, or a table upstairs. The shop sells until 21:30 and is shut on the first and third Tuesday.Named by Jalan, as of 4 March 2026

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.