From Haneda Airport to downtown Tokyo
Just as we did for transportation from Narita and in order to complete our extensive train guide of Tokyo, this article sums up the possible transportations connecting Haneda airport to the center of the Japanese capital.
While most foreign tourists land in Narita, Haneda International Airport receives more and more positive attention. At the end of 2014, the respected airports ranking website Skytrax gave it its famous 5 stars, a rank that only 5 airports in the world have achieved (including Seoul, Hong Kong, Munich and Singapore).
The geographical position of Haneda, very close to Tokyo, in the bay 30 kilometers down in the South, makes it the ideal landing place to quickly reach the capital ; some of the city center’s stations are even less than 20 minutes away by public transportation! It is the same for the surrounding attractions, such as Yokohama and Tokyo Disney Sea, or even to gain time by directly departing towards Kansai area for example.
With the 2020 Olympic Games 🏅 in mind, Tokyo Municipality naturally wishes to encourage foreign airline companies to increase the number of their flights ✈️ landing at Haneda. After all, it is already the most frequented airport in Asia, with close to 70 million travelers, out of which only 10% are international.
Since travelers will increasingly take off and land at Haneda in the coming years, we will offer you here a guide of the best transportation to reach your destination faster and cheaper.
General information
Haneda is particularly well served by railways, even if bus transportation may be preferred in some (rare) instances. Of course, taxis remain the most expensive and not especially faster transportation, depending on the traffic conditions.
Note that the International Terminal (where all international flights land) is closer to Tokyo ; terminal 2 is located 6 minutes farther !
As usual, if you have to change trains and/or have to walk to reach your accommodation, we do recommend to use takkyubin service (luggage delivery service).
Just like the other Japanese airports, in the evening and mostly at night, there are few public transportation leaving from Haneda. Check the compatibility of your departure/arrival hours with the solutions introduced below. Several hotels 🏨 located close to the terminals offer a good way to spend the night waiting for the first trains.
Lastly, just a vocabulary information: we speak of Tokyo as the Japanese capital city, but it is also a train 🚅 station as any other, located in the South-East of the city center.
Companies, hours and prices
All prices indicated in this article are intended for one adult in ordinary class, from the International Terminal. Basically, divide the price per two for a child (6-11 years old usually) and multiply it by two for a Green class (equivalent to a first class).
There are 3 main means of transportation from Haneda.
Tokyo Monorail
Managed by JR via the Tokyo Monorail company, the monorail 🚝 was built for the 1964 Olympic Games. Therefore, it has this old-fashioned futuristic charm.
Its path connects to the famous circular Yamanote line at Hamamatsucho station (nearby Tokyo Tower 🗼 and Hama-Rikyu gardens).
Departures are every 3 to 5 minutes, from 5 a.m. to around midnight, and the travel lasts 14 minutes on the Express train.
Prices:
- ¥500 (~US$3.47) per adult
- ¥250 (~US$1.73) per child
Since all transportation operated by JR company are compatible with the Japan Rail Pass and therefore free if using it (once activated of course), the JR Pass covers the total travel in monorail + Yamanote from Haneda.
Note that a free Wi-Fi connexion is available in the monorail starting October 1st, 2016.
A Pikachu special version of the monorail was in service from June 2019 to June 2020.
Keikyu : train and bus
Keikyu (Keihin Kyûko), a private company, offers these two solutions:
- the train, easy to recognize with its thick dark blue border ;
- the bus (or transportation coach) working 24hours and whose network extends up to Mount Fuji!
The prices depend on the destination and mean of transportation (see below in this article).
An individual ticket must be purchased in advance for any Keikyu transportation, because it is not compatible with the JR Pass, but we do recommend to use the Suica card for more comfort.
Airport Limousine
The company offers bus transportation, however prices can be quite high. Moreover, the schedule does not take traffic into consideration, this is why we made the choice not to cover this service here since it is not competitive.
Haneda Airport Access Line
Mid-2023, Japan Railways launched the construction works of a faster direct line, connecting a new station in Haneda to the central Tokyo Station. The new line aims at reducing the current 38 minutes travel time with transfer in Hamamatsucho or Shinagawa (Monorail or Keikyu) to a direct 18 minutes trip, free with the JR Pass.
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism approved the project. The 5 kilometers railway’s opening is scheduled for March 2032 with a ¥280 billion (~1.9 billions dollars) budget.
From Haneda to the main train stations in Tokyo
The principal train stations below are sorted by alphabetical order. For each of them are listed the best itinerary, depending on the desired budget and speed.
Asakusa
- Keikyu Train: 32 minutes, ¥620 (~US$4.30)
Ginza
- Keikyu Train - Higashi-Ginza station : 23 minutes, ¥570 (~US$3.96)
Ikebukuro
- Monorail + Yamanote : 14 minutes + 28 minutes (JR Pass)
Odaiba
- Keikyu Bus - Grand Pacific Hotel Station : 30 minutes, ¥520 (~US$3.61)
Roppongi
- Keikyu Train : 25 minutes, ¥570 (~US$3.96)
Shibuya
- Monorail + Yamanote : 14 minutes + 17 minutes (JR Pass)
- Keikyu Bus : 60 minutes, ¥1,030 (~US$7.15)
- Taxi : about ¥6,500 (~US$45.10) on daytime
Shinagawa
- Keikyu Train : 11 minutes, ¥410 (~US$2.84)
Shinjuku
- Monorail + Yamanote : 14 minutes + 23 minutes (JR Pass)
- Taxi : about ¥7,000 (~US$48.57) on daytime
Around 2024, a new JR line will connect Haneda to Shinjuku in only 23 minutes.
Tokyo
- Keikyu Train : 20 minutes, ¥580 (~US$4.02)
- Monorail + Yamanote : 14 minutes + 6 minutes (JR Pass)
Around 2024, a new JR line will connect Haneda to Tokyo in only 18 minutes.
Ueno
- Monorail + Yamanote : 14 minutes + 13 minutes (JR Pass)
Yokohama
- Keikyu Train : 23 minutes, ¥470 (~US$3.26)
- Keikyu Bus : 40 minutes, ¥580 (~US$4.02)
Narita : inter-airports travel
This connection can be necessary, especially in the case of a transfer between two flights. The two international airports are separated by a minimum of 80 kilometers.
The solutions to travel between the two airports are:
- Keisei train - Sky Access Express : 89 minutes, ¥1,790 (~US$12.42)
- Keikyu Train : 92 minutes, ¥1,760 (~US$12.21)
- Limousine Bus : 60-100 minutes, ¥3,200 (~US$22.20)