How to ride trains in Japan
Which door to use, when to tap your IC card, how to pay on a rural one-man train — the small rules that differ from line to line, checked against each railway's own guidance.
のりかた
乗り方
How to ride
基本
Start here
交通系ICカード比較
Japan's IC cards compared
Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, SUGOCA and six more — where each comes from, visitor cards, phone versions and where they don't work.
Compare the cards日本の電車の基本（きっぷ・改札・マナー）
Japan train basics: tickets, gates and manners
Buying a ticket, getting through the gates, children's fares, priority seats and the unwritten rules on board — everything you need for your first ride.
Read the guide交通系ICカード（Suica・PASMO・ICOCA）の使い方
How to use Suica, PASMO and ICOCA on Japanese trains
Which card to get as a visitor, tapping in and out, topping up, the IC-area boundary you can't cross in one trip, and what IC cards don't pay for.
Read the guide新幹線・特急の乗り方（きっぷ・改札・乗り換え）
How to ride the Shinkansen and limited express trains: tickets, gates and transfers
Why you need two tickets, how to feed them into the gate, ticketless boarding with an IC card, JR Pass gates and Nozomi tickets, big-luggage rules and the Shinkansen transfer gates.
Read the guideワンマン列車・無人駅の乗り方
How to ride a one-man train and use unstaffed stations in rural Japan
Board at the back of the first car, take a numbered ticket, watch the fare display and pay the driver as you get off at the front — plus the lines that do it differently.
Read the guide地域別の乗り方
Local rules on the map
Trams and rural lines each have their own routine. Pick a region, then a line — the badges show which door to use and when you pay.
How to read the map
- Green: the door you get on by
- Red: the door you get off by and pay
- Each line page has a door diagram, step-by-step instructions and the railway's own source.