Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway
Metro · Tokyo · Tokyo Metro / Toei Subway
13 lines · 231 stations · 54 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
- ChiyodaYoyogi-uehara - Ayase19
- FukutoshinWakoshi - Shibuya18
- GinzaShibuya - Asakusa19
- HanzomonShibuya - Oshiage15
- HibiyaNaka-meguro - Kita-senju25
- MarunouchiOgikubo - Ikebukuro27
- NambokuMeguro - Akabane-iwabuchi19
- Toei AsakusaNishi-magome - Oshiage20
- Toei MitaMeguro - Nishi-takashimadaira28
- Toei OedoTochomae loop - Hikarigaoka41
- Toei ShinjukuShinjuku - Motoyawata22
- TozaiNakano - Nishi-funabashi23
- YurakuchoWakoshi - Shin-kiba28
Quick facts
- Operators
- Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway run the underground network most visitors mean when they say Tokyo subway.
- JR East is separate, even when route planners make everything look like one system.
- Payment
- For a normal trip, use Suica, Pasmo, or Welcome Suica and tap in and out.
- Tokyo Metro and Toei have contactless Tap to Ride, but Suica is still the cleaner visitor default because it also covers JR and more everyday uses.
- SuicaPasmoContactless
- Airport links
- Haneda and Narita are rail trips, but not simply Tokyo Metro trips. Expect Keikyu, Tokyo Monorail, Keisei, JR, or airport buses depending on the hotel.
- Airport linkRegional rail
- Network type
- A dense subway network layered with JR urban rail, private railways, through-running services, and some very deep stations.
- MetroDeep metroThrough-running
- Useful visitor lines
- Ginza, Hibiya, Marunouchi, and Oedo are the easy first lines to remember, with the JR Yamanote Line as the planning loop above them.
- Ginza LineHibiya LineOedo Line
Mike’s notes
Tokyo is hard because the trains are excellent and there are so many of them. The visitor move is to stop trying to memorize the whole thing and understand the layers.
The practical mental model
JR East is the surface-and-urban-rail layer: Yamanote, Chuo, Sobu, and the lines you will probably use for big station-to-station moves. Tokyo Metro and Toei are the subway layer. Private railways and airport railways plug into both.
Google Maps makes that feel seamless, but fares and gates still know the difference. For a first trip, Suica or Pasmo is the calmest answer. Tap in, tap out, and let the card handle the operator changes.
Contactless nuance
Tokyo Metro and Toei now support Tap to Ride with contactless cards on their subway gates. That is useful progress, but it is not the same as "all Tokyo rail takes my bank card." JR is still separate for this purpose, and transfer discounts or through-running details can get messy. I would still tell a visitor to use Suica, Pasmo, or Welcome Suica unless they are doing one simple subway-only ride.
Lines to remember
The JR Yamanote Line is the planning loop. Around it, the subway lines I keep in my head are Ginza for Asakusa-Ueno-Ginza-Shibuya, Hibiya for Roppongi-Ginza-Akihabara, Marunouchi for Shinjuku-Tokyo-Ginza-Ikebukuro, and Oedo for the deep loop through Roppongi, Shinjuku, and east-side connections.
The Oedo Line is the built-environment fun one. It is deep and uses smaller linear-motor trains, which gives it a different feel from the older subway lines. It is not always the fastest line on paper, but it is a useful connector when your day sits around Roppongi, Shinjuku, Tsukiji, or the east side.
Short history
1927
Ginza Line begins
Tokyo's first subway opens between Ueno and Asakusa, creating the east-side spine that still makes the Ginza Line useful for visitors.
1954
Marunouchi Line arrives
The red Marunouchi Line adds the Shinjuku, Tokyo Station, Ginza, and Ikebukuro axis that still carries a huge share of first-trip Tokyo.
1960s-1980s
The network becomes a web
Hibiya, Tozai, Chiyoda, Yurakucho, Hanzomon, and Toei lines turn the subway into a full cross-city mesh, often with through-service to private railways.
2000
Oedo Line completes the deep loop
The Toei Oedo Line becomes one of the system's most distinctive pieces: deep, compact trains, and a useful loop around major districts.