Skip to main content
TheSkylane
Post a role →
Shibuya Crossing at night from above, with crowds of pedestrians spread across the intersection, lit advertising screens on the surrounding buildings, and a glass office tower in the right foreground.
Layover guideHND · NRT · Japan

Tokyo

What crew need on the ground

Haneda and Narita are two different layovers that happen to share a city: from Haneda you are at Shinagawa in eleven minutes on Keikyu's own timing, while Keisei's fastest published Skyliner run is thirty-six minutes into central Tokyo before you have walked anywhere, so read every window below for the airport on your roster and not for Tokyo.

David Kernan / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
HNDTokyo Haneda Airport
NRTNarita International Airport
RegionAsia-Pacific
CurrencyJPY
Based hereANAJapan Airlines
Getting out

Haneda has two rail operators and a sub-twenty-minute run into town. Narita's fastest published run is thirty-six minutes, and it is a committed ride whichever train you take.

Ride-hailing

Apps dispatch licensed taxis to marked stands that are not where the taxi rank is, and at Narita the fixed fare is the headline number.

Right now · Tokyo
Every figure from its publisher, none of them ours
Local timeLocal time
HND now21°QNH 1008 · METAR 15:30ZNOAA Aviation Weather Center
Next five days
22°19°Mon 5
27°18°Tue 6
21°14°Wed 7
23°15°Thu 8
23°15°Fri 9
MET Norway (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) · CC BY 4.0
In the news
FlightGlobal · 12hAir Astana to launch direct Japan flightsFlightGlobal · 3dRyanair traffic up 4% in September despite 1,000 flight cancellationsSimple Flying · 5dAir Canada Just Ceded Its Only Route To Algeria As Air Algérie Doubles Down With Airbus A330neosSimple Flying · 8dThis Is Canada's Busiest Airport
Travel advisory · liveUpdated 28 August 2026

Japan travel advice

Addition of information about flooding and heavy rain ('Safety and security' page).

Read the full advice at UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office →
If you have

From Haneda six hours is a real afternoon in Tokyo. From Narita it is the airport.

  1. Haneda: Keikyu puts Shinagawa 11 minutes from Terminal 3 and 14 from Terminals 1 and 2. Clear immigration, tap in, and once you have paid for the ride each way, the walk and the check-in queue you still have about three hours to use.
  2. Haneda: Keikyu's guide publishes 20 minutes to Tokyo Station from Terminal 3 and 23 from Terminals 1 and 2, so you can pick a district rather than defaulting to whatever is nearest the station.
  3. Narita: the fastest published run is 36 minutes, so a return trip is at best 72 minutes of train before immigration, the walk to the platform, the wait for a Skyliner and the check-in queue. Six hours leaves you an hour or so on the ground if nothing goes wrong, and one missed departure takes most of that.
  4. Narita: go only if you are already through immigration with a Skyliner leaving within about fifteen minutes. Otherwise the honest answer is to stay and sleep.

The Skylane’s read, built on the transfer times sourced above.

Crew mapHow Tokyo connects to the airport
  1. HNDHaneda
  2. ShinagawaKeikyu from Haneda11 min from Terminal 3
Keikyu from Haneda
11 min
Terminal 3 to Shinagawa
14 min
Terminals 1 and 2
City destinations
Closer options
  • UenoSkyliner terminus from Narita
  • AsakusaClose enough to Ueno for one trip
Narita side
Schematic · not to scale
Neighbourhoods

  • Shinagawa

    Keikyu's 11-minute stop from Haneda Terminal 3 and the natural base for a short HND layover.

  • Shibuya

    On the JR Yamanote Line, so it is covered by the 590 yen Haneda combined ticket on the weekends and holidays that ticket is sold.

  • Tokyo Station

    Keikyu's access guide publishes 20 minutes from Haneda Terminal 3 and 23 from Terminals 1 and 2, though it does not say what change that assumes.

  • Ueno

    Keisei-Ueno is a Skyliner terminus at the same fare as Nippori, which makes it the default NRT destination.

  • Asakusa

    Narita Airport names it as one of the areas the Skyliner serves, and it sits close enough to Ueno to be a single trip.

  • Hamamatsucho

    Where the Tokyo Monorail from Haneda ends and the Yamanote loop begins.

What things costPublished rates only
  • Keisei Skyliner, Narita Airport to Nippori or Keisei-Ueno2,470 JPY ticket / 2,465 JPY by IC cardSame fare from Terminal 1 and Terminal 2/3, and the same to either destination. Children 1,240 JPY.Keisei Electric Railway · Sep 2026
  • Monorail and Yamanote Line Discount Ticket, Haneda to any Yamanote station590 JPY adult / 290 JPY childSold only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays between 14 March 2026 and 31 March 2027, plus listed holiday runs, and only on the date of use. No advance sales.Tokyo Monorail · Sep 2026
  • Narita Airport fixed-fare taxi, central Tokyo (Chuo, Chiyoda, Taito, Bunkyo, Arakawa)29,000 JPY via Keiyo Road / 31,000 JPY via Bayshore FreewayZone C of six. The A to F range is 23,500 to 38,500 JPY, with 23,500 buying only Edogawa, Katsushika or Adachi. Highway tolls extra, plus a surcharge between 22:00 and 05:00. The meter is used instead on non-expressway routes.Narita International Airport · Sep 2026

Only rates the operator or the authority publishes. Anything not listed is not published, so treat a figure from anywhere else as somebody’s estimate.

Reality checkThe full section

Local laws that catch crew out

The medicine in your washbag is the offence most likely to end a Tokyo layover in custody.

  1. Cold and flu medication containing pseudoephedrine, Vicks inhalers, medicines for allergies and sinus problems, and some over-the-counter painkillers containing codeine are illegal to carry under Japan's strictly enforced law on anti-stimulant drugs. The FCDO records that foreign nationals have been detained and deported for these offences.

  2. Quantities matter for everything else. Japan's health ministry allows up to a one month supply of prescription drugs and of self-injection kits without an import certificate, up to a two month supply of non-prescription drugs and quasi-drugs, and up to 24 per item of external-use drugs and cosmetics. Above those thresholds you need a Yakkan Shoumei obtained before you leave home.

  3. Narcotics such as morphine and fentanyl, and stimulant raw materials such as lisdexamfetamine, cannot be brought in without permission from the director of a Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare granted before you enter Japan.

  4. You must always carry your passport or Japanese residence card. Police can arrest anyone who cannot show proof of their visa or residence status, and a person can be arrested and detained without charge for up to 23 days even for a minor offence such as theft or trespassing.

  5. The drink-drive limit is about a third of the UK limit. There are penalties for allowing someone to drink and drive, and a passenger can be arrested if police suspect they knew the driver had been drinking, which is worth knowing before anyone in a crew car offers to drive.

Sources (3)

On the ground in Tokyo

Getting out of the airport

Haneda, Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho: the operator publishes 13 minutes from Terminal 3, 16 from Terminal 1 and 18 from Terminal 2 on the Haneda Express, and 17, 22 and 24 minutes on the local. The Haneda Express and the local charge the same fare, so there is no reason to wait for an express if a local is on the platform.

Getting out of the airport in full
Sources (7)

Ride-hailing

Haneda moved app-hailed pickups off the arrivals kerb. Dedicated app-hailing stands opened at 05:00 on 22 October 2025, near Exit 7 on the 2nd floor departure level at Terminal 1 and near Exit 2 on the 2nd floor at Terminal 2, with the Terminal 3 stand on the 8th floor of the P5 car park. The airport warns that the boarding point can move with congestion and tells you to check it in the app.

Ride-hailing in full
Sources (2)
Staying connected

Free Wi-Fi across all three Haneda terminals, but the SIM counters keep shop hours and Narita's are all landside.

Haneda runs HANEDA-FREE-WIFI across all three terminals. You select the network, open a browser and follow the on-screen instructions. It cannot be used inside shops, lounges excepted, and the airport warns it may be difficult to connect in certain areas.

Staying connected in full
Sources (3)
Weather

A twenty-one degree swing across the year, and an autumn that is wetter than the rainy season.

Japan's meteorological agency puts Tokyo's 1991 to 2020 mean at 26.9C in August and 5.4C in January, an annual mean of 15.8C. A summer layover and a winter layover need genuinely different bags.

Weather in full

Japan Meteorological Agencychecked Sep 2026

Tipping

Not expected anywhere you will go, and pushing it is the awkward move rather than the generous one.

Japan's tourism authority states plainly that it is not common to tip for services such as those provided in bars, cafes, restaurants, taxis and hotels.

Tipping in full

JNTOchecked Sep 2026

Out in Tokyo

Eating near the crew hotels

Cards are widely taken but not universally, so carry cash, and the table manners that would be rude at home are not rude here.

Japan's tourism authority is blunt that this is still very much a cash-based society and tells visitors to keep cash on them, even while noting that credit, debit and prepaid cards of international brands are generally accepted throughout the country.

Eating near the crew hotels in full
Sources (3)
  • JNTOchecked Sep 2026
  • JNTOchecked Sep 2026
  • JNTOchecked Sep 2026
What to buy

The tax-free system changes on 1 November 2026 from an exemption at the till to a refund confirmed by Customs at departure.

From 1 November 2026 Japan moves to a refund method: the consumption tax equivalent is refunded after Customs confirms at departure that the goods are being taken out of Japan. Layovers either side of that date work differently at the checkout.

What to buy in full
Sources (2)

Before your pickup

Keep Tokyo on your phone

Save the guide and its 8 sections now, and read them on the crew bus before you have a SIM.

Two guides side by side

Why you are here

Tokyo · Asia-Pacific
Based here
What the job pays

Benchmarks for Asia-Pacific, with the tax treatment and the allowances stated on every row.

Asia-Pacific pay
ReadingAsia-Pacific
Sources & practical information21 sources · checked Sep 2026

Fares, timetables and rules change. Where a figure matters to your plan, the publisher above is the one to check.