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Checked, dated, and honest about the gaps

Tokyo Notes — checked against the official pages

Every claim here is checked against the operator’s or the government’s own pages, and every article carries the date it was checked. Where something could not be confirmed, the article says so rather than filling the gap.

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Photo: Takashi Miyazaki / Unsplash

How can we help you?

Practical guidance for English-speaking visitors to Tokyo, written and checked by someone who lives here.

A Yamanote Line train arriving at the platform Photo: Md Samir Sayek / Unsplash

Getting around

Trains and buses from the airports, IC cards, and the fares the operators publish.

3 articles
Shibuya Crossing with pedestrians and the surrounding buildings Photo: Jezael Melgoza / Unsplash

Money and rules

The lodging tax, the tax-free system, and what the shops’ own pages still say.

3 articles
A koban police box, with its KOBAN sign lit up Photo: Suzi Kim / Unsplash

When something goes wrong

Emergency numbers, what is already in the room, bookings that can be cancelled, and advice that turned out to be wrong.

4 articles

Every article, with the date it was checked

Each one says which official pages it was checked against.

IC card ticket gates at a Tokyo station

Suica & PASMO: which one, and how to actually use it

Choosing between the two cards, getting one on your phone or in your hand, topping it up, and what happens when the balance runs out mid-journey.

Getting around Verified 8 Sep 2026
Signage for Narita Airport Terminal 2·3 Station inside the station Photo: Tan / Unsplash

Narita or Haneda into Tokyo: five routes, and what the operators actually publish

Skyliner, Narita Express, limousine bus, Keikyu and the Monorail — fares, luggage rules and whether your IC card is enough, taken from the operating companies' own pages.

Getting around Verified 8 Sep 2026
A Keisei limited-express train crossing a bridge Photo: Eric Ak / Unsplash

The Narita trains that cost half the Skyliner, and what Keisei doesn’t tell you about them

Keisei runs trains from the same airport stations that need no limited-express ticket — ¥990 to Oshiage against the Skyliner’s ¥2,580.

Getting around Verified 8 Sep 2026
A hand holding several paper shopping bags Photo: Iuliia Pilipeichenko / Unsplash

Tax-free shopping changes on 1 November 2026: you pay the tax first

The discount no longer happens at the till.

Money and rules Verified 12 Sep 2026
A tax-free store sign lit up above a shop front at night Photo: Adrian Diaz / Unsplash

The tax-free rules change on 1 November. None of the shops have updated their pages

Seven major retailers, checked in August.

Money and rules Verified 8 Sep 2026
A made-up hotel bed in a Tokyo hotel room Photo: Vojtech Bruzek / Unsplash

Tokyo’s lodging tax becomes 3% on 1 April 2027

A flat ¥100 or ¥200 becomes 3% of the room rate, and nothing is due below ¥13,000.

Money and rules Verified 15 Sep 2026
A shopping street with a green pharmacy cross sign Photo: Laurentiu Morariu / Unsplash

Getting sick in Tokyo: which numbers work in English, and which ones nobody will say

119 has an English speaker on duty at all times, and you do not need to know the address to call it.

When something goes wrong Verified 26 Aug 2026
A person in a yukata looking out a window at the Tokyo view Photo: Loris Boulinguez / Unsplash

Your Tokyo hotel room has sleepwear in it. The English page just doesn't call it that

All five big business hotel chains provide it.

When something goes wrong Verified 27 Aug 2026
Nihonbashi Takashimaya Photo: Ayumi Kubo / Unsplash

Pokémon Cafe Tokyo: booking services are banned, and the rule has teeth

The paid bots that trip reports recommend fall inside a ban the cafe spells out on the screen you agree to.

When something goes wrong Verified 26 Aug 2026
Station stairs with signage for the Keisei Line and Skyliner Photo: Shoham Avisrur / Unsplash

Four pieces of Tokyo advice, checked against the official sources

Bus doors, Shinkansen gates, deodorant, escalators.

When something goes wrong Verified 25 Aug 2026

Planning a trip to Tokyo?

Start with whichever of the three groups above fits your question. Everything here is written and checked by someone who walks this city every day.

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