They are still confusing, but the ability to use google maps is a HUGE asset. Here is an example:

It actually tells you what to expect for fares. For the first week we did pretty simple trips, 2 of them requiring a transfer. But there are 2 other subway rides to consider here:

1. Point A to Point B on Tokyo Metro (pretty basic, by a ticket for the price, off you go)
2. Point A to Point B on Tokyo Metro and one of the other train lines (buy a transfer ticket)
   1. The difficult experience here was coming back from Disney – I don’t know if we just happened to get the non-English section but if I hadn’t know the cost back, we would have been stuck, EVERYTHING was in Japanese
3. Point A to Point B on Tokyo Metro and one of the other train lines requiring a new ticket to be bought at the station – this happened on our trip to the park today, there was no indication you had to speak to someone at a booth, there was no automated machine here, very confusing. See the pictures below. When you come out, there are multiple ‘numbered locations’ and then when you finally get your ticket, you need to know which train to take, local, rapid, express, commuter. Each one stops at different stations – the local at all stations, rapid skips a few, and so on). The problem is, the train shows up and you have 30 seconds to figure out what train it is and get on.
4. Point A to Point B on Tokyo Metro and one of the other train lines requiring you do a far adjustment at the end station – this happened on our trip (in a future blog) to Tokohama. You just ride on the same train (in our case it went through 3 different lines even though it was the same Tokyo Metro train) and at the end, you go to the fare adjustment window, put in your ticket and tell it where you came from and you pay the new cost (on top of the cost you paid to get on).

One of the pictures you will see the actual far screen. It was funny because the bottom lines says to “Please insert insufficient funds” – well, I don’t need to add anything then 🙂 Overall the translation here is much better than China was.