Tokyo Diary – Traffic on the Right, Wrong, Left Side of the Road

To get around Tokyo we were going to test our ability to use the local buses and subways. Tokyo’s bus system is different than any other I have seen. Instead of having just the city bus and subway system, Tokyo also has a number of other, privately owned, bus and subway companies.

We decided to limit ourselves to the Toei system for a couple of reasons. First, the nearest subway terminal was a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel but we could catch either of two Toei bus routes right outside our hotel. Of course, many times we waited at least 10 minutes for the bus.

Second, the hotel had a route map that showed all the routes and stops for the Toei buses and subways. Examining the map we found that we would be able to visit all the sites on our itinerary using just the Toei system.

Third, although each bus ride costs ¥200 and the cost of subway rides depended on the distance travelled, we could buy a pass for ¥700 that was good for the whole day.

The information we received from the Tokyo visitor bureau said you could buy the passes from the ticket vending machines at the subway station. After our first day of travel I found out from one of the tourist books I had brought with me that these passes can be purchased from the bus driver. This would save us ¥200 each day.

The only advantage we had in spending the extra ¥200 the first day is that I don’t know how we would have asked for the pass from a bus driver who spoke no English. On subsequent days we were able to show the pass to the driver (who would cross his forearms to indicate the card was expired) and then show him the ¥700 and make hand gestures to get him to understand we wanted one for this day.

One of the things that constantly threw us a curve is our expectation that traffic drives on the right side of the road. Not so in Japan. I cannot tell you the number of times we found ourselves waiting for the bus only to have it be going in the opposite direction than we wanted to go. How long it would take someone to break this ingrained habit?

Same thing happens when walking on the sidewalk. Someone is coming at you so you instinctively move right – only problem is they move to their left. Geoff and I were constantly telling each other “Left” as we would find ourselves on the wrong side of the sidewalk fighting against traffic.

If I ever get to travel to Tokyo again I will definitely plan to travel again using the Toei buses.

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