Suica, PASMO and Tokyo subway passes
How to pay for the Tokyo subway as a visitor: an IC card for everything, the Tokyo Subway Ticket for heavy days, single tickets when you need them, and the rules for children.
The short answer
Get an IC card — Suica or PASMO, they are interchangeable — and touch in and out at the gates. It works on both subway operators, on JR, on the private railways and on buses, it charges the exact distance fare, and it saves you working out the price before you buy. That is what most visitors should do.
The one case for something else: if you will make four or more subway trips a day, several of them crossing between Tokyo Metro and Toei, the Tokyo Subway Ticket (¥1,000 for 24 hours, ¥1,500 for 48, ¥2,000 for 72) covers both companies without limit — but only if you are eligible to buy it, and the eligibility rule is unusual.
IC cards: Suica and PASMO
Standard Suica and PASMO cards (500-yen deposit) work on both operators at IC (1-yen) fares. Non-personalised cards were back on sale in 2025, after the 2023 chip-shortage suspension (PASMO notices of 2023-06-02 and 2023-07-31 list the suspension). Tokyo Metro / Toei pass products on IC (24-hour, Marugoto, Common One-day) can only be loaded on PASMO, not on Suica.
Touch the card on the reader as you go through the gate, and again on the way out. The fare is taken automatically and the two-operator connecting discount is applied for you, as long as you use the gates marked for transfers. Top up at any ticket machine with cash.
One thing that catches visitors out: the subway day passes that can be loaded onto an IC card go onto PASMO only, not Suica. If you want the Tokyo Metro 24-hour ticket or the Common One-day Ticket as IC rather than paper, that decides which card to buy.
Visitor versions of the IC cards
| Card | Status | Deposit | Valid for | Where and what to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Suica | sold | ¥0 | 28 days | JR East card for short-stay visitors; no deposit; usable for 28 days; balance not refunded. A long-term version (up to 6 months) is sold to travel agents in bulk only. |
| TOURIST PASMO | sold (launched May 2026) | ¥0 | 28 days | Keikyu Haneda Airport Terminal 1-2 and Terminal 3 stations (machines for travellers, Keikyu Tourist Information Center); Keisei Narita Airport T1/T2 (Skyliner & Keisei Information Center) No refund of the remaining balance. |
PASMO PASSPORT, which older guides still recommend, is gone: Sales had already ended. All handling ended 2024-10-11 and the rules were abolished from 2024-10-12.
The Tokyo Subway Ticket (24 / 48 / 72 hours)
| Ticket | Adult | Child | Valid on | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Subway 24-hour Ticket | ¥1,000 | ¥500 | All Tokyo Metro + all Toei Subway lines | 24 hours from first use (PASMO version: from purchase) |
| Tokyo Subway 48-hour Ticket | ¥1,500 | ¥750 | All Tokyo Metro + all Toei Subway lines | 48 hours from first use |
| Tokyo Subway 72-hour Ticket | ¥2,000 | ¥1,000 | All Tokyo Metro + all Toei Subway lines | 72 hours from first use |
This is the pass built for visitors, and the only common one that covers both subway companies without limit. The clock runs from first use, not from midnight, so a 48-hour ticket first touched at 14:00 on Monday lasts until 14:00 on Wednesday.
Not everyone can buy it. Overseas visitors, and Japan-based travellers who live outside Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Yamanashi (1都7県).
Where: Toei Tourist Information Centers at Shimbashi (Asakusa Line), Shinjuku-nishiguchi and Ueno-okachimachi (Oedo Line), 8:00-20:00, passport check; Toei information office 三ノ輪橋おもいで館; Haneda Airport (international tourist information center) and Narita Airport (foreign visitors only); also tourist offices and electronics stores; QR version online (Tokyo Metro). PASMO version only at the Tourist Information Centers.
It does not cover JR, the private railways or the airport trains — only the two subway operators.
The other day passes
| Pass | Adult | Child | Valid on | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket (paper / IC-PASMO / QR) | ¥700 | ¥350 | All 9 Tokyo Metro lines (not Toei) | Paper: 24 h from first use; same-day tickets must be first used on the day of purchase, advance tickets (online store only) within 6 months. IC (PASMO only, not Suica): 24 h from purchase. |
| Common One-day Ticket for Tokyo Metro & Toei Subway (都営地下鉄・東京メトロ共通一日乗車券) | ¥1,100 | ¥550 | All Tokyo Metro + all Toei Subway lines | Calendar day (same-day ticket); advance ticket: one day within 6 months; QR: within 90 days of purchase |
| Toei Marugoto Ticket (都営まるごときっぷ, Toei 1-day pass) | ¥700 | ¥350 | Toei Subway, Toei Bus (except 江東01), Tokyo Sakura Tram, Nippori-Toneri Liner | Calendar day (same-day; advance paper ticket: one day within 6 months) |
| Toei Subway One-Day Pass (都営地下鉄ワンデーパス), seasonal only | ¥500 | ¥100 | Toei Subway only | Day of purchase, only during announced sale periods |
| Tokyo Combination Ticket / 東京フリーきっぷ | ¥1,720 | ¥860 | All Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Toei Bus, Sakura Tram, Nippori-Toneri Liner and JR lines within the 23 wards | One calendar day |
These are sold to anyone, residents included, and each is tied to a particular slice of the network. The Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket is the cheapest if you can keep to the nine Tokyo Metro lines. The Common One-day Ticket adds Toei for ¥400 more. The Toei Marugoto Ticket is the mirror image: Toei subway, Toei buses, the Sakura Tram and the Nippori-Toneri Liner, but no Tokyo Metro. The Tokyo Combination Ticket adds JR inside the 23 wards on top of everything.
Not on sale on 2026-10-20 (page: 現在は、発売しておりません). The last period listed is summer 2026: weekends and holidays 2026-07-18 to 2026-08-30, plus every day 2026-08-10 to 08-14.
Things that changed recently
| What | When | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| PASMO PASSPORT | Oct 11, 2024 | all handling ended; replaced by TOURIST PASMO (May 2026) |
| Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket advance sale at pass offices | Mar 15, 2025 | advance tickets online only; price 600 -> 700 |
| Common One-day Ticket sale at Tokyo Metro pass offices | Mar 13, 2026 | last day; advance tickets now only at Toei station offices |
| Toei Subway One-Day Pass | — | seasonal only; not on sale on 2026-10-20 |
Each of these is still recommended somewhere online. Prices and passes in Tokyo change on the March timetable date most years.
Buying a single ticket, and travelling with children
Single tickets come from the machines by the gates. Above every bank of machines there is a fare chart showing the price from that station to every other — find your destination, note the number, press that button. If you cannot find it, buy the cheapest ticket and settle the difference at a fare adjustment machine before you leave; that is the normal, expected way to do it, not a penalty.
Children. 6-11 (a 6-year-old not yet in elementary school counts as a toddler). Child fare = half the adult fare: tickets rounded UP to 10 yen, IC rounded DOWN to 1 yen. On Tokyo Metro the halving happens after the barrier-free fee is added. A child fare is half the adult fare: on an IC card it is rounded down to the yen, on a paper ticket up to the nearest ¥10. 1-5 (to elementary-school entry): up to 2 ride free with each paying adult or child; the 3rd and further, or toddlers travelling alone or only with other toddlers, pay the child fare Under 1: free
Frequently asked questions
Every fare on this page comes from the operators’ own published tables — Tokyo Metro’s and Toei’s regular-fare pages and the per-station fare records they publish as open data — and was checked on October 20, 2026. Prices change; the chart above the ticket machines is always the authority. Tokyo Subway is an independent guide: it is not run by Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. or by the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Toei), and it is not affiliated with either of them.