Tokyo has two airports and they are not the same problem. Haneda is 15km out and the train costs ¥330. Narita is 60km out and the taxi costs ¥28,000. Getting the second one wrong is the most expensive avoidable mistake of a Japan trip.
The short answer
From Haneda, take the Keikyu line. It is ¥330 to Shinagawa in 11 minutes from Terminal 3, and it runs through onto the Toei Asakusa line, so Shimbashi, Higashi-Ginza and Asakusa need no change. Nothing else at Haneda is close.
From Narita, one thing decides it: are you coming back the same way? If yes, and you hold a non-Japanese passport, buy the N’EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket at ¥5,200. It beats two Skyliner legs to Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Shinagawa, with no transfer. One way, take the Skyliner at ¥2,470.
| Narita to central Tokyo | One way | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Keisei main line limited express to Ueno | ¥1,030 | About 75 min |
| Keisei Access Express to Ueno | ¥1,240 | About 60 min |
| Access Express to Asakusa | ¥1,290 | About 65 min |
| Airport Bus TYO-NRT to Tokyo Station | ¥1,500 | 65 min at best |
| Skyliner to Nippori or Ueno | ¥2,470 | 41 min |
| Skyliner through to Tokyo or Akihabara | ¥2,630 | About 55 min |
| Skyliner through to Shinjuku or Shinagawa | ¥2,670 | About 60 min |
| Narita Express to Tokyo Station | ¥3,140 | 53 min |
| Airport Limousine to Shinjuku | ¥3,600 | Traffic dependent |
| Taxi, fixed, Chiyoda or Chuo | ¥26,000 plus toll | 60 to 90 min |
| Taxi, fixed, Shinjuku or Shibuya | ¥28,000 plus toll | 60 to 90 min |
| Haneda to central Tokyo | One way | Time from Terminal 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Keikyu to Shinagawa | ¥330 | 11 min |
| Keikyu through to Shimbashi | Through fare | 21 min |
| Keikyu through to Asakusa | Through fare | 34 min |
| Monorail and Yamanote day ticket | ¥590 | Weekends and holidays |
| Monorail through to a Yamanote station | ¥680 to ¥870 | About 30 min |
| Airport Limousine to Shinjuku | ¥1,400 | Traffic dependent |
| Late-night bus to Shibuya | ¥2,200 | After the trains stop |
| Taxi, fixed, Chiyoda | ¥7,600 plus toll | About 30 min |
| Taxi, fixed, Shinjuku | ¥9,000 plus toll | About 40 min |
Why does the round trip change the Narita answer?
Because JR East discounts the return. Keisei does not.
A normal Narita Express return to Tokyo Station is ¥6,280, and ¥6,660 to Shinagawa, Shibuya or Shinjuku. The N’EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket is ¥5,200 to any of them, valid 14 days, sold to non-Japanese passport holders. That saves ¥1,080 to Tokyo and ¥1,460 to Shinjuku on the same trains.
Now put it against the Skyliner. Two Skyliner legs to Shinjuku, including the Yamanote connection at Nippori, cost ¥5,340. The N’EX round trip ticket is ¥5,200 and involves no transfer with luggage. To Tokyo Station the two are within ¥60 of each other, and the N’EX still wins on the transfer. The Skyliner wins outright when you are going one way, or staying near Ueno, Nippori or Asakusa, where the N’EX does not go.
If you are on a rail pass, note that neither Keisei service is covered. The Narita Express is JR, so it is. That is a separate calculation, and we ran it in the math after the October price rise.
What is the cheapest way in from Narita?
The Keisei main line limited express to Ueno, at ¥1,030. About 75 minutes, stopping everywhere, but it is an ordinary commuter train with no reservation and no surcharge, at under half the Skyliner.
The Access Express at ¥1,240 is the better version of the same idea. It uses the faster Narita Sky Access line and runs through onto the Toei Asakusa line, reaching Asakusa for ¥1,290, Nihombashi for ¥1,330 and Shinagawa for ¥1,520 with no change. If your hotel is on that line, the Skyliner is a waste of ¥1,200. It also drops you two stops from Sensoji, which is the one Tokyo sight worth reaching before 8am.
The Airport Bus TYO-NRT at ¥1,500 to Tokyo Station or Ginza suits heavy luggage and no appetite for stairs. It is 65 minutes at best, longer whenever the expressway is not moving, with no reservations and no assigned seats.
Keikyu or monorail at Haneda?
Keikyu, almost always. Shinagawa in 11 minutes for ¥330 puts you on the Yamanote loop and the Tokaido Shinkansen. The through service onto the Toei Asakusa line covers Shimbashi in 21 minutes, Higashi-Ginza in 23 and Asakusa in 34, with no change. Add three minutes if you land at Terminal 1 or 2.
The monorail is worth it in one case. On weekends, public holidays and a list of school-holiday dates, the Monorail and Yamanote Line Discount Ticket runs from the airport to any Yamanote station for a flat ¥590, against an ordinary through fare of ¥680 to ¥870. Check the date before you count on it.
What does a taxi actually cost?
From Haneda, the Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association publishes fixed fares by ward, effective 20 April 2026. Chiyoda is ¥7,600, Shibuya ¥8,500, Shinjuku ¥9,000, Taito ¥9,100, Nerima ¥12,800. Tolls are extra and the fare assumes the expressway. Between 10pm and 5am a late-night band applies: Shinjuku becomes ¥10,700.
From Narita the same association publishes four zones, and they are brutal. Zone A, out to Koto, Sumida and Edogawa, is ¥21,000. Zone B, Chiyoda, Chuo, Taito and Bunkyo, is ¥26,000. Zone C, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Minato, Shinagawa and Ota, is ¥28,000. Zone D, out to Setagaya and Musashino, is ¥30,000. All are before tolls, all need advance booking, and the late-night band adds ¥4,000 to ¥6,000.
Zone C is ¥28,000 to Shinjuku. The Skyliner there is ¥2,670. The taxi costs ten times the train and is not faster.
What if you land after the trains stop?
At Haneda you have real options. Late-night and early-morning buses run to Shibuya at ¥2,200, and to Roppongi, Yokohama and Kawasaki. Pay before boarding at the Terminal 3 arrivals counter. Taxis queue all night.
At Narita the picture is worse. The Airport Bus TYO-NRT runs late-night and early-morning departures at ¥3,000 rather than ¥1,500, exactly double, and the 5am to 6am services take cash only. After that the honest options are a ¥21,000 taxi or a chair.
Last departures move with the seasonal timetable, so check the operator’s page on the day. Treat any Narita arrival scheduled after about 9pm as at risk, and book near the airport rather than pay ¥25,000 to reach the room you already booked in Shinjuku.
What if you have heavy bags or small children?
Send the luggage and travel light. Every Narita terminal has delivery counters from Yamato, JAL ABC and Sagawa, all government-certified for same-day and next-day delivery in English. JAL ABC charges ¥1,950 for a 120 size case from Narita to a Tokyo address, ¥2,430 at 140 and ¥2,820 at 160.
Sending a bag into the city is cheaper than sending it back out: the same case costs ¥2,700 going Tokyo to Narita, because the airport-bound leg is time-critical. And ¥1,950 is far less than the gap between two train tickets and one taxi, so for a family the delivery plus the train beats the cab on both cost and temper. Keikyu began a same-day service at Haneda Terminal 3 station in March 2026, extended in August 2026, for the arrival morning when your room is not ready.
The traps
- Anyone who approaches you inside the terminal offering a car is operating illegally. Licensed taxis carry green number plates, or black on a kei car, a company name on the door and a meter inside. A white or yellow plate soliciting fares is an unlicensed taxi, banned under article 4 of the Road Transport Act, penalties to three years or ¥3 million. Narita airport police logged three cases between January and September 2025 and called that the tip of the iceberg.
- Buying a Skyliner ticket to Ueno when your hotel is not near Ueno. The ¥2,470 headline does not include the Yamanote leg. Budget ¥2,630 to ¥2,670 for anywhere else on the loop.
- Assuming the fixed taxi fare is the total. It is the fare plus expressway tolls.
- Taking a Narita bus at rush hour. The 65 minutes is a best case on an empty road. The train time is a timetable.
- Leaving mobile data until you land. A travel eSIM needs a working connection to install, so buy it before you fly. Japan data runs about $1.80 a gigabyte on an eSIM against $12 a day on US roaming.
Questions people actually ask
Is the Japan Rail Pass valid on these?
On the Narita Express and the Tokyo Monorail, yes, both are JR. On the Skyliner, the Access Express and the Keisei main line, no. Keisei is a private railway.
Do I need to book the Skyliner in advance?
No. It runs three times an hour and seats are reserved at the counter or machine on arrival. Online advance purchase is cheaper on some fares, so check, but turning up works.
Can I pay with a Suica or Pasmo?
On the ordinary trains, yes, and the IC fare is a few yen lower because it is calculated to the single yen rather than rounded up. The Skyliner and Narita Express need a separate reserved seat ticket on top.
Which Haneda terminal will I land at?
Terminal 3 handles most international arrivals and has its own Keikyu and monorail station. Terminals 1 and 2 share a station one stop on. The difference is three minutes.
Is the Airport Limousine worth ¥3,600 from Narita?
Only if it stops at your hotel door. It costs ¥930 more than the Skyliner route to Shinjuku and it is slower. You are buying one seat, one bag handover and no stairs, worth real money with a pushchair and nothing without one.
How long should I allow going back to Narita?
Treat the train time as the floor and add an hour to your airline’s check-in deadline. The Skyliner is 41 minutes from Ueno, but you still have to reach Ueno, on commuter trains at commuter times.
Sources: Keisei Electric Railway published fares for the Skyliner, Access Express and main line; JR East on the Narita Express and the N’EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket; Tokyo Monorail on the Yamanote discount ticket; Keikyu on Haneda journey times; Airport Bus TYO-NRT and Airport Limousine on fares; Keikyu Bus on the late-night Shibuya service; the Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association fixed-fare tables effective 20 April 2026; JAL ABC on delivery prices; Narita International Airport on baggage counters; and Tokyo Shimbun on unlicensed taxi enforcement at Narita.
Researched from primary sources and checked August 2026. General information, not advice.
