How to get to my place

By subway

The closest subway station to my home is the Akasaka station of the Chiyoda line. Other close stations are Aoyama Itchome (Ginza, Oedo and Hanzomon Line) and Akasaka Mitsuke/Nagatacho (Ginza, Hanzomon, Marunouchi, Yurakucho, Namboku lines) Akasaka station is about 7 minutes walk, Aoyama Itchome and Akasaka Mitsuke are about 10 minutes and Nagatacho about 12 minutes. station. The cost of a subway ride is dependent on the distance and tickets can be bought at every station.

On foot

From the Akasaka subway station

Take exit 7 out of the subway station. When you get above ground take a right and walk along the road for about 100 meters. Then take a right up the stairs. When you reach the top of the hill, continue straight past the large Akasaka Park tower office building. About 150 meters further at the traffic light take a left into a small street. My house has a brick round facade and is on the right side.

From the Akasaka Mitsuke / Nagatacho subway station

Take exit A out of the subway station. When above ground walk straight ahead following the large road with the elevated bypass. After about 400 meters take a left at the second traffic light on the corner with the large office tower and the round Sony building. The road will go down a steep hill. After about 150 meters continue up a hill and take a right at the first traffic light close to Pizza Hut. My house has a brick round facade and is on the right side.

From Aoyama Itchome subway station

Take exit 4 out of the subway station. When above ground follow the large road for about 500 meters. After a pedestrian bridge take a right at the traffic light on the corner with the large office tower and the round Sony building. The road will go down a steep hill. After about 150 meters continue up a hill and take a right at the first traffic light close to Pizza Hut. My house has a brick round facade and is on the right side.

If you get lost just find a phone booth and give me a call at 090 3358 0954 and I will come and pick you up.

By taxi

Please be warned that taxis in Tokyo are prohibitive expensive. From Narita Airport expect a fare of around USD 250. For short rides tell the driver that you want to go to Akasaka Nana Chome, mention Columbia Dori and show him the map on this page.

From Narita Airport

First of all, before you come to Japan, take some cash with you. Only the Citibank cash machine at the Airport accepts foreign bank cards. There are plenty of money exchange places. You will need upto 5000 yen (45 US Dollar) per person to get from the airport to my house by train. Do NOT take a taxi, as it will set you back several hundred dollars.

Tokyo is an extremely large city and the airport is more than 60km away. It takes about one-and-a-half hours to get all the way from the airport to our house. Given the size of this town it is not surprising that there are several different ways to get to Tokyo. Luckily all the trains and station names are indicated in English as well as Japanese. Also it is safe and the Japanese are mostly very friendly. Do not hesitate to ask bystanders whether a specific train goes where you want to go. Most people will go out of their way to help you.

To get to our house from the airport the fastest way, take the Narita Express to Tokyo station (JPY 2940/USD 26). Trains go every half an hour and will bring you to Tokyo station in about an hour. If you have luggage with you just take a taxi from Tokyo station to our house. Use the taxi stand at the Marunouchi exit of Tokyo station (JPY 1500/USD 13). You can also take the Marunouchi subway line to Akasaka Mitsuke station (JPY 160/USD 1.40), but it is 10 minutes walk from there to our house up and down steep hills.

To get to our house from the airport the cheapest way, take the Keisei line to Aoto using the limited express. There change trains to continue to Asakusa. The change in Aoto is easy: same platform, opposite side. In Asakusa switch to the Ginza line in the direction of Ginza and get out at Akasaka Mitsuke. All these trains are local trains and so it will take over 2 hours and after that a 10 minutes walk up and down steep hills. Definitely not recommended if you are carrying heavy luggage. But you will be saving money as the total cost will only be about JPY 1150 / USD 10.

An intermediate option is to take the Sky-Liner from the airport to Ueno. Take the escalator down and follow the signs 'JR Line, Keisei Line'. Downstairs you will find a ticket office for the 'Skyliner'. There are two kinds of tickets. The one for the express train is 1920 yen and will take you to Ueno Station in about 50 minutes. You can save half of the money by taking a slow local train, but be warned, it will stop at every little station. The express train ticket will have reserved seating. Your carriage and seat number are printed on your train ticket. Hold on to the ticket in the train as you will need it on your way out. In Ueno change to the Ginza line and follow the instructions above.

Yet another way is to take the JR line to Tokyo Station. It is not the quickest way, but this line is free is you have a valid Japan Rail Pass.

For both the subway and the JR Yamanote Line you might have to buy a ticket at the vending machine. Throw in a few coins or a bill and take the cheapest ticket. You can pay the difference with the final exact fare when you exit the subway. In this way you do not have to figure out the exact fare, which is sometimes only written in Japanese. Before the subway exit gates there is a small machine for 'Fare Adjustment'. Put in you subway ticket and throw in a few more coins or bills if asked.

By car

Parking around our house is about JPY 100 per 10 minutes. If you have a really small car you can park it in front of our house without cost. During rush-hour expect some of the worst traffic jams on the planet though.