How many subway rides do you take in a day in Tokyo? If the answer is "a lot," this little ticket can save you a real chunk of yen — a plain-English guide to the Tokyo Subway Ticket: the 24/48/72-hour prices, which lines it covers, where to buy it, when it pays off, and how it differs from a Suica/Pasmo card.
Let's be honest: Tokyo is a city you ride the subway across all day long. Asakusa in the morning, Shibuya in the afternoon, Shinjuku at night — hopping on and off five or six times a day is completely normal. Pay ¥180–330 a ride every single time and you can easily clock up several hundred yen by sundown. The Tokyo Subway Ticket is a flat-rate pass that lets you ride the metro as much as you like for the hours you buy — however many rides you take, it's one price.
This pass is made specifically for foreign visitors — you show your passport when buying, and it covers 9 Tokyo Metro lines + 4 Toei Subway lines, 13 lines that reach almost everywhere worth seeing in the city. It comes in 24, 48 and 72 hours, starting at around ¥800. There's just one thing to burn into your memory — the pass does not include JR trains, and that includes the wildly popular Yamanote loop. So before you buy, work out whether your trip leans more on the metro or on JR.
The pass counts "real hours" from the moment you first tap through the gate (not calendar days) — tap in at 2pm today and a 48-hour ticket runs until 2pm two days later. Children aged 6–11 pay half price.
| Duration | Adult (12+) | Child (6–11) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 hours | ¥800 | ¥400 | One full day of sightseeing with several metro rides |
| 48 hours | ¥1,200 | ¥600 | A two-day weekend hitting several neighbourhoods |
| 72 hours | ¥1,500 | ¥750 | Best value per day — a full 3-day Tokyo trip |
The Tokyo Subway Ticket gives unlimited rides across 2 subway networks, 13 lines in total, linking nearly the whole city — but JR lines (including the Yamanote loop) and private railways aren't in the pass, so you pay for those separately or tap an IC card.
Remember just one thing — you must bring your physical passport to show when buying (a copy won't do). The rest is easy; just follow these steps.
Simple rule: if you mainly get around by "metro" that day and take several rides, the pass is a sure win. But if your trip leans on the JR Yamanote line, or you only take a couple of rides a day, tapping an IC card and paying as you go may be cheaper.
There's no single answer for everyone. Whether it pays off comes down to how many rides you take that day and whether you lean more on the metro or on JR. This table gives you the big picture before you decide.
| Option | Best for | Metro (Metro/Toei) | JR (Yamanote) line | Convenience-store pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Subway Ticket | Days with several metro rides, full-day sightseeing | Unlimited | Not included | Can't use |
| Suica / Pasmo (tap & pay) | Light-to-moderate riding, wanting access to everything | Pay as you go | Works | Works |
| Single ticket (~¥180–330) | Very few rides, a route you know well | Pay per ride | Buy separately | Can't use |
Reserve the pass ahead through Klook to lock in the price, get the voucher on your phone, then swap it for the real ticket at the airport or a pickup point once you reach Tokyo (don't forget your passport) — or if you're still torn between the pass and an IC card, read our Suica/Pasmo guide first.
Open our Tokyo transport and attractions guides, plus tools for choosing other rail tickets that might suit your trip better.
The big picture of Tokyo's whole rail system — JR, the metro, private railways, IC cards and how to read a station map.
How to get around Tokyo →Stored-value tap-and-pay cards that ride JR, metro and buses, and pay at convenience stores — compared with this pass.
Read the Suica/Pasmo guide →The base for your trip — where to stay, eat and see, itineraries and how to get around, across every tab.
Open the Tokyo guide →Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza — the headline sights, most of them reachable on the metro in this pass.
See Tokyo attractions →Heading out of town by Shinkansen too? Work out whether a JR Pass beats buying individual tickets.
Open the calculator →Visa · eSIM · IC cards · the JR Pass · budgets — everything you need to know before flying to Japan.
Japan guide →Open the Tokyo travel guide for sights and itineraries, or start booking a hotel near a metro station so getting in and out is easy and your pass earns its keep every day.