Dec 22, 2009

TASPO

Hello!   from Tokyo Subway Guide!!
Today I write about TASPO card.   When you want to buy
cigarette from the vending machine, you need this card.





This is a card like an ID , but it's just for cigarette machine.
It is government issued card so it's not easy to get. It takes
about a week to get this card. By the  way  I   don't  have it
because we have to write down toublesome papers and send
it and wait.  I don't like troublesome works!!!!

These days it's becoming strict about smoking laws.
Place to smoke , time to smoke . We can't smoke while
walking because there is alot of people around and they might get burnt.

It means because Tokyo is the place where is really crowded and
most of us is talking on the cellphone or checking
our emails  while walking and not concentrating on other people.

Plus smoking !  Yeah ....there was lots of troubles because they
are not caring peole around .. they hold the cigarette in one hand
with the light on and starts to talk with gestures on cellphone
 and bump into others.
 The bad one was the cigarette light went into the kid's eye
while the kid was waiting for the traffic light to change
and the guy
standing infront of him  .....did it ..  ofcourse not on purpose.
So..accidents happens like this and the law becomes more strict.

TASPO.... this is ID card just for vending machines
In Japan there is so many vending machines around.
Cigarette and alcohols is something that you need to be checked
before you buy.  But in Japan ...I know it's very safe country
that is why they didn't care about til now... but maybe
people from other countries can't believe that we sell those cigarettes
and alcohol with the vending machines.
Whoever ..even kids can buy those stuffs
easily !!!

But now we need government issued TASPO to buy cigarette
from vending machine.  so kids can't have this ID that means
they can't buy easily.   BUT BUT !  All the people needs it with
troublesome paper works..
ALL THE PEOPLE MEANS  .....YOU  TOO.........

If you don't have TASPO no one can buy from vending machine.....
Just get a friend who has TASPO .....

       OR!!!!!
Kiosk or convenience store or any shop where HUMAN BEING is
at the register .. !!  Just find where HUMAN
BEING sells .  And ofcoursely you should be over 20 years old.!!!!









 You don't need TASPO ..because they can check with their eyes.....haha hhmmmm..

AND A WARNING!!!  DO NOT FORGET THAT YOU CAN NOT SMOKE
WHILE YOU ARE WALKING  !!! There is security guards and police
checking around at those crowded places and if you're found smoking
they give you a ticket to pay for that . It costs like 5000yen .
Expensive cigarette... you can only smoke at the right place.








(posed by misayo)

Dec 18, 2009

PASMO and SUICA 2

Hello! Today  I want to write about
What is convenient and interesting about PASMO and SUICA.
It is not just a metro card for buying tickets for the train.

As I mentioned ...you can remind how Japanese people are...
Japanese is someone who thinks a lot...........BRAIN.
It is great when they can stop at the right point..but sometimes..
(???? mostly??!!)  they go too far..
     I AM JAPANESE and German mix.. I know how I am.. EEEEeeeeeK!!!

For this card ..you can find a touch panels everywhere. At kiosk,
NewDays(convenient store's name) ,  restaurants, shoeshine shop,
boulangeries, coffee shop, wherever the shop in the station.
Just touch the panel with your card and is paid.









And the interesting thing is soda machines and some of the coinlockers.
Even for these automatic machines you can use this card.







For soda machine. How to use is
first you push the button of the drink you want
and then you touch the panel with your card
and the drink comes out.


AND THE MORE INTERESTING thing about this card which
I say is going too far is..
They sell the cell phone which SUICA or PASMO chip is already
installed.      and is called ..WALLET CELL PHONE.


As you know our cell phone is about your palm size or maybe smaller.
All the cellphone..it's not cell phone anymore. can use as internet pc,
T.V, music player, camera , video, global phone, voice recorder, game ,
books, so on and so on and so on.... and WALLET.



That small colorful compact cellphone which 90% of Japanese owns
looks dainty and cute.   BUT it's not cute at all!!
It's like being our 2nd BODY.

Whenever I leave my cellphone at home I feel like I left part of my body.

So I named my cellphone
"BODY 2"


Oh see,,,,,,,I'm going too far from explaining about SUICA and PASMO!!
 Anyways this is something really interesting to check and try so...
Check it!!!!  hmmmm.

This is Pasmo address.     





(posted by misayo)



This is the Icon shown as kiosk and coinlocker.


 





<Tokyo Subway Guide>










Dec 16, 2009

PASMO and SUICA.

Hello !  Today I want to explain about PASMO and SUICA.

These cards are the super metro card which you can pay for
many kinds of things like candies, newspaper, juice, tickets, and so on.
Anyways ..I can say that this is something that reminds how Japanese
people are... I think you can find this type of METRO CARD only in Japan.

I recommend you to get one of this card while your stay in Japan.
PASMO and SUICA works the same . Only the difference is...
the name and the design.



















This card works as your wallet. Charge your money in and you can pay
from there . Most of the store accepts this card in the station.
What is really great about this card is you don't need to take out your
wallet and count the money each time when you pay.
  You just need to touch the touch panel
 with the card and your pay is done. You just need to check the balance on the
screen and don't forget to charge money if  your money is not going
to be enough for another use.
It is very convenient when you buy the ticket.
I have very bad eye sight and it's hard to find out how much the ticket
is ....the board above where the stations name and the price is on is
written in so small words and I always get the wrong price ticket!
But with this card !!   I just need to charge money and don't need to
find out the right price for the ticket I want.  Just charge enough money
touch the panel and check the balance.  
I think people from other country feels more trouble to find out the price
of the ticket.  so  I recommend you this card.

Where you can get this card is:







You can get this card from the vending machine.
There is a button to display the screen in English .
 The price is from 1000yen-10000yen.    Even if you get 1000yen card
it works the same .   It means how much the money is charged.
So if you get that card once you can use it permanently!!
If you use up the money just charge it again and if you don't want to
keep it zero.

 HOW TO USE this card when you get in to the platform.

At the ticket gate there is the touch panel written IC.
Touch that panel with your metro card.






and the gate will open . whenever you touch the panel the screen will
display your card's balance . so I recommend you to check it.
You have to becareful when you get out . because ..if your money balance
is not enough .. the gate will not open..with the big sound
and the bloody red light on!!  BEEEEEEEE!!!!!

BUT you don't need to get so worried about those situation.. because
I do that a lot of time!!  hahahaha.... not just me  you will  find  out ..
you will hear a lot of BEEEEEE sound in the station. Especially Shibuya!
Yeah so ..how to get out is you can find the charging machine near the
ticket gate so you just need to charge it again.

                 Go find this charging machine when you are stuck at
          the ticket gate with the big sound and the red light ....







(posted by  misayo)

Dec 2, 2009

Tokyo Subway

Hello! This is support page for Tokyo Subway Guide
Usually support page is for the page to explain how to use the application.
But .....this is for foreigners and I thought it is better to explain
about subway in Tokyo and how to use it.

First of all..subway in Tokyo is so much complicated and it is really
like a maze.   For example, one station has B1-B4 which every floor
has a platform for different subway lines. 
and for a big surprize..lots of the subway stations are connected to the
scyscrapers above the platform.  Most of the scyscrapers has basement
floors and from there is a hallway to the subway ticket gates.
In those buildings are the department stores , companies , hotels , restaurants,
and apartments, and so on.  Roppongi Hills is one of that.

Subways in Tokyo is constructed as the place which can be possible to
live your whole life as a underground people like in the center of the Earth.
Some of my friends are already starting to live like that and they say
that they love that style and feel really convienient.  No coats .No umbrellas.
Hmmm....  I love rains and snowy days... so for me  I don't know if want
to live like them but yeah.. I think it is very interesting thing and good to
experience a bit a part of being underground people.
So I recommend you to choose a hotel in one of the building connected to
the subway station whenever you get chance to visit Tokyo!!
The best thing is that you don't need to worry about the weather while
your stay and is possible to have fun atleast for a week!
Just in the underground cities using subways!!
If you get in the situation like that I hope that you use our application
and you'll get to know how
our application is usable and necessary for your stay!!

The thing is ,the facilities in the underground cities and the department stores
connected to the subway station has so much excitements.
You can find anything you need .   Shopping malls, movie theaters , bowling
centers ,karaoke ,various kinds of restaurants ,  esthes , pools, whatever.
Whatever you can think of to have fun.
What is I'm proud of is the restrooms!!  You'll see .
80% of the restrooms in Tokyo department stores and subway stations has
toilettes which you don't need to touch to flush or wash your hand.
It has a sensor . Automatic restroom!!  and the washlet .
I don't know how many countries know about the washlet toilete.
so.. I put up some photos next time.
I really want to show you some other interesting things too.
Next time I will write about SUICA and PASMO .  It's something like
a metro card but it's a super metro card. with a penguin design on!
and  KIOSK, phone booth ,  coin locker , escalator   'S  HOW TO!!
 DON'T MISS IT !!!!!!


(posted  by  misayo. n )

Oct 26, 2009

Tokyo Subway Guide

TOKYO SUBWAY GUIDE informs the location of the platforms, exits, and
guides how to transfer to the other lines.
It guides all 290 Tokyo subway stations.
You can find the locations of the elevators,escalators and the stairs which
leads to the ticket gates. And also gives you the informations of the location
of the restrooms, coinlockers,kiosks,AEDs,other facilities and so forth.
The greatest thing is that you can get all those informations before you get
to the station. Plus this application informs which station installs Wi-Fi.


TOKYO SUBWAY GUIDE does not need to be connected to the internet.
All the needable data is in this application. Therefore, you can check
this application even if you are in such as like a subway where it is hard
to be connected to the internet.
The route map is attached and this route map shows all the transfers so
you do not need to switch to other application.
This application is arranged in 7MB in size , so it is really compact.


HOW TO USE

From the top menu (main menu) touch the screen in the order of
the route map---the name of the station--- and then the platform
of your destination will be displayed on the screen.

By touching the screen up and down with your fingertips you can switch
the display of the side-view and overhead-view.
The side and overhead view is adjusted at the length of the platform and
the position.

By sliding the touch screen with your fingertips up and down , compare the
side and overhead view. You can find the nearest way out to your destination.

You can find the platform position of the side view from the line which is near
the arrow, which shows the direction by the color of the (train)line
you want to know.
* Every (train) line is shown by the different color.

The gray illustration between the side and overhead view is the roughly
sketched landmarks above the platform.
Subways in Tokyo forms a weblike pattern and be overly complicated.
But all the guidances and the informations are quite complete.
So,you do not need to get worried if you can find the right ticket gate.
This application gives you the right guidance which you need for transferring
and to find the exits.



ADDED FUNCTIONS Ver.1.1

1) Like at the stations where there is so many number of connections, there
is a lot of platforms, and so we displayed the number of the platform on the
overhead view to make the guidance clear.

2) The exits are shown by the exit numbers.
At every ticket gates in the display, the nearest exit number is shown on the
basis of the ticket gate where you are.

3) Guidance for transferring JR and the private railways.

4) It is possible now to check from the reduced display screen.
It is fourfold be large in scope comparing to the view we had til now.

All the reviews and the corrections are adjusted. Thank-you.





(contribution Terakawa)