Public transportation phone apps?

[Thomasvl]

Hi everyone!

I'm going to japan pretty soon and i was wondering if there were any android phone apps out there that will help me get by with public transportation.

So basically is there an app that enables you to see which train departs at which line and at what time. Or something like that?

If there is I'd like to know

Thanks in advance!

-Thomas

[community.japanese]

Thomas-san,
kon'nichiwa!
Wow, you're coming to Japan soon? Exciting, isn't it?

I'm far away from tech savvy, but there should be some usuful apps. I just use Yahoo Japan, but
I've seen ad of "NAVITIME" many times on trains. It seems they have app for android.

Hope this helps

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[japanpod5265]

The bad news is that you're pretty much out of luck. I have not found a single HALFWAY decent app for the Tokyo metro. They're all awful and they'll all serve up massive amounts of ads. Nonstop ads...

Luckily you have internet access in the subway.

There's a pretty standard metro map that you can get at all the hotels. One side English, one side Japanese. Get it. It'll be your best friend. It shows the station designations (e.g. "H07: Hibiya").

You'll actually want a second map that shows you exits, too.

I'd pay $20 for a GOOD Tokyo metro subway app on my Android... alas, if there's one out there on Android, I don't know of it.

[community.japanese]

japanpod5265-san,
thank you for sharing info and thoughts!
Seems you had a bad experience...?

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[bloritsch]

I think Google maps has come a long way. The maps at Google are mostly Japanese, so it works better if you know the kanji or at least the hiragana for your destination. However, most places we wanted to go we got good instructions from Google, with a couple minor exceptions. Google maps in Japan are run by the Japanese branch so there are some issues with searching in romaji.

Hyperdia is decent if you just use the web interface, and know the names of the stations you need. Unfortunately it can't help you with walking instructions. There's a few places where you need to walk a little bit before you hop the next train.

[community.japanese]

Bloritsch san,

Konnichiwa.
Thank you for sharing the information.

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[patrick_harnett]

I am not sure about Tokyo, but I use the standard google maps and explore function (free). It will give me options for car, trains, buses and walking. As an example, I wanted to get from near Kyoto station to Arishiyama last week and it told me how long it would take to walk to platform 32 for the 11:07 train. I also like the gps navigation as it essentially gives walking directions (and a friendly blue arrow) which was useful when in Hakata heading to a hotel that was not on the larger maps - worked perfectly.

Patrick
japancustomtours.co.nz

[community.japanese]

patrick_harnett san,

Thank you for the information.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com