Newcomer’s Notes: Lessons from My First Trip to Tokyo

4 min readDec 21, 2024

I spent a couple of days in Tokyo on my way back to the States this summer. It was a wonderful experience, we visited Ginza, Meiji Jingu, Sensō-ji, Tokyo Skytree, and other places. The food was fantastic, we went to a local restaurant one time and had very delicious meals without speaking anything. Because the owner couldn’t speak English, and we couldn’t speak Japanese.

If you plan to visit Japan, don’t worry too much about communication issues — just bring your smartphone and a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. In this article, I will share a few useful tips that might help make your time in Tokyo both enjoyable and stress-free.

Add Suica Transit Card to your digit wallet

Suica cards are prepaid electronic payment cards that offer a convenient way to travel and shop in Tokyo. You can easily add a Suica card to your mobile device’s digital wallet by selecting “Add Card,” then “Transit Card,” and searching for “Japan.” Once set up, you can simply use your phone to ride all trains and buses within the city. Just remember, you need to tap twice when riding on a bus, entry and exit, if there’s a reader at the middle door. If the reader is not at the middle door, just tap once at the exit. Don’t worry if you make a mistake, as most locals will understand you’re a visitor and won’t mind the confusion.

Before you land at the airport

You need to take some time to register your information through “Visit Japan Web” before you arrive at the airport. You will save a lot of time by downloading the QR code to your phone and passing the immigration and customs check without filling out the paper form at the airport.

Get a Wi-Fi router at the airport

If you don’t have an international roaming plan like I do, you should probably rent a Wifi router at the airport. You and your family can share the internet usage by connecting to this router with multiple devices. The price is about 770 yen per day to use 3GB of data.

From Narita Airport to the city

The quickest way to reach central Tokyo from Narita Airport is by taking the Keisei Skyliner train. To purchase a ticket, look for a Skyliner and Keisei information center (similar to the one shown in the photo below). Alternatively, you can also buy tickets in advance online from reputable vendors.

The Skyliner train makes its first stop in about 36 minutes at Nippori Station, followed by a stop at Ueno Station. From either of these stations, you can easily transfer to various destinations within Tokyo using the train system serving the city.

Ride on train lines in Tokyo

Tokyo’s train system is very complicated. However, you can get a handle on it by following two simple steps. First, take a look at this YouTube video to understand the train lines in Tokyo: Tokyo Train System, Explained. Then, always use Google Maps to navigate your rides.

Let’s go to Tokyo!

I have shared a few things I learned during my trip to Tokyo, and I hope they will be helpful for your planned trip and make it enjoyable. Now, it’s time to show you some of the photos I took while exploring the city — enjoy!