My recent trip to Tokyo allowed me to re-charge the wife’s and my Suica cards. We got these when we were in Japan in 2008 and rode mainly Japan Railways (JR) trains between our hotels and various destinations in Tokyo, Yokohama and Kamakura. I also used the JR Keihin Tohoku Line for trips between Saitama and Yokohama during the weekends when I would hear Mass at Yamate and then go around Minato Mirai, Shibuya, Ueno or Akihabara. It was easy for me to get reacquainted with commuting with the JR trains. It’s probably because it was so easy commuting in Japan and nothing much has changed in terms of the transport system. This is proof of an efficient public transport system and one which I have also used in Singapore and Hong Kong. Hopefully, we can have at least a bit of this efficiency in public transport and commuting in Metro Manila.

JR East railway map for Tokyo Metropolitan area and environs (available for download in the internet)

I found an improved/renovated JR Akihabara Station when I was in Tokyo in July.

Ticket machines at the JR Okachimachi Station are bilingual. One just has to press the button for English translation/option.

Turnstiles at a JR station

Coin lockers at a JR station allows travelers/commuters to leave their things while going around for business, shopping or other purposes. A traveler heading to the airport, for example, who wants to do some last minute shopping may want to leave luggage using the larger lockers so he/she won’t have difficulty moving about.

There are small restaurants and shops around JR stations. This one is a ramen shop frequented by commuters with a ticket dispensing machine to expedite orders. One purchases tickets for meals and drinks using the machine and presents the tickets to the staff inside the restaurant.

I hope to be able to go around my old haunts in Yokohama the next time I’m in Japan. Perhaps I can take a few photos then about transport in a country where I spent some significant time over the past years.

–