When in the year do you travel?
Have you booked all your accommodations?
(Depending on seasons, as your date approaches, it may become difficult to book a hotel room matching your preferences in some well-accessible areas.)
About the Tokyo. I found 3-day tickets for metro for 1500 yen. In which area in Tokyo do you stay?
(Is there a subway station close to your Tokyo accommodation?)
Which sites in (and around) Tokyo do you plan to visit?
Tokyo Subway Tickets recently got renewed to be 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour tickets.
(Before the renewal, Tokyo Subway Tickets were 1-day, 2-day and 3-day tickets, and the duration of their validity was counted by calendar days.)
A Tokyo Subway Ticket can be used on Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines (#).
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.htmlhttp://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/tickets/value.html#: The word "metro" may be taken as referring to Tokyo Metro, which is one of the two operators of subway lines in and around Tokyo; so, please use "subway" instead.
You have several days to travel in and around Tokyo, so I recommend that you make a few groups of sites to visit which you can access mainly by subway then judge whether a Tokyo Subway Ticket pays off for the trips.
D14: Tokyo (metro) - Haneda Haneda airport is outside the subway network.
- Tokyo Subway Route Map (with station codes)
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/pdf/routemap_en.pdf: In this map, thin lines indicate non-subway lines and the grey-and-white striped loop indicates the JR Yamanote Line.
I'm wondering about buying JR East Pass (Nagato, Niigata) on day 2, so I can go to Nikko for free and use unlimited Tokyo metro. All subway lines are non-JR lines; there is no JR pass which is valid especially also on a subway section.
JR passes, including this JR EAST PASS (Nagano {not "Nagato"}, Niigata area), are
not valid on the bus lines connecting major tourist spots in Nikko.
The operator of these bus lines is Tobu Bus Nikko of Tobu Group.
It may be cost-saving if you shift your Nikko day trip to a later day so that you can use a 7-day Japan Rail Pass for it, even though you pay in addition for your bus rides in Nikko.
There are three major railroad routes between Tokyo and Nikko.
(a) Tokyo or Ueno --[JR Tohoku Shinkansen]-- Utsunomiya --[JR Nikko Line]-- Nikko.
(b) Asakusa -- [Tobu lines: one or a few trains]-- Tobu-nikko or Kinugawa-onsen.
(c) Shinjuku or Ikebukuro -- [JR and Tobu lines: a through Limited Express train]-- Tobu-nikko or Kinugawa-onsen.
A Tobu Nikko pass is valid on the railroad route (b) and some bus routes in Nikko.
If you do not shift your Nikko day trip, a Tobu Nikko pass is better cost-wise than a combination of a JR East Pass + Tobu Bus regular tickets or a Tobu Bus Free Pass.
: To take a Tobu Limited Express train, in addition to your Tobu Nikko pass, you need to purchase a reserved-seat ticket.
: When you hold a valid Tobu Nikko pass sold exclusively for foreign tourists, you can be given a 20 percent discount on surcharges for Limited Express train services.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_002.htmlOr, if you hope to take fast trains with your seats reserved but also save the cost, a JR TOKYO Wide Pass may be a good deal.
This pass allows you to take JR-Tobu through trains on the route (c) with no additional payment.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_06.htmlWhen you plan to take the railroad route (a) or (c), please make sure to check the timetables.
: Between Utsunomiya and on the route (a), trains are only infrequently available.
: Only a small number of JR-Tobu Limited Express trains go through the route (c).
