💡Getting around without getting lost

How to Use / Getting around without getting lost

Ride the subway in Japan for the first time and a few things will catch you out: four stations with the same name on the map, staff who don’t recognise the station you just said out loud, or a ten-minute walk because you took the wrong exit.

All of it comes down to station names. Once you know why, it gets much easier.

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01 Why there are four Asakusa stations

Same name, different station

Japan has several railway companies — JR, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway and various private lines — and each builds its own station, named after the area. That’s how Asakusa ends up with four Asakusa stations. Same name, different lines, different operators.

So when you agree to meet somewhere, check which line. And when companies differ, transferring means exiting through the ticket gates — and paying a separate fare.

METOBEE shows each station separately on the map and lists which line it belongs to in search results.

02 When your pronunciation doesn’t land

The most useful button out there

Reading a station name off a romanised list often doesn’t work in practice — a long vowel or the wrong pitch and it becomes a different word entirely.

Tap the language toggle at the bottom left of the map and station names switch to Japanese. Show the screen to station staff and you don’t need to say anything. It also helps when matching signs or using a ticket machine.

03 What else the map shows

Zoom in for more detail

Stations in Japan’s big cities can have a dozen exits, sometimes over twenty, labelled with letters and numbers like A1, B2a, C13. Each one leads somewhere completely different — take the wrong one and you can end up ten minutes further from where you’re going.

METOBEE shows exit numbers and nearby landmarks directly on the map when you zoom in. Note the exit closest to your destination and just follow the signs once you’re inside.

Lost? Tap Stations near me at the bottom right to jump to the closest station.