Most trains stop running between Midnight and 1:00 am in Tokyo. If you are not back to your hotel by then you're stuck, unless you want to walk, or catch a super expensive taxi, or find an internet cafe to spend the night. Some train lines actually do stop by midnight, including the monorail going around the Disney Parks.
My family and I had an exciting day in Tokyo that fine Saturday, April 13th, 2019: Boarderless Exhibit, a giant Ferris wheel, Gundams, Shrines, Harajuku crepes, Shibuya's pedestrian crossing, a full day. We were tired. And it was after 9:00 at night. We had time to get back.
Google maps is nice, at times, but be careful as it can lead you astray. We all learned this the hard way. According to the app it would have taken us about 38 minutes or so to get to the Maihama station from Shibuya, home of Disney magic.
Go to platform 4, it said. Hop on, it said. The Saikyo line magically turns into the Rinkai line, remain on board. Get off at Shin-Kiba. Wait. Ride two stops to Maihama. Simple! So simple! Only we were confused over what platform we were on and hopped on the first train we saw. -_-;; Don't Ever Do That!!! Instead of riding towards Ebisu, we were heading back to Harajuku. Wrong way.
So we got off. Got new directions. Waited. The train apparently came and went, only we didn't see it. Are invisible trains a thing in Tokyo? It was approaching 10:00. The estimated time was over an hour. We needed to get to Maihama no later than 11:50 or so to catch the last monorail. Could we have walked from there? Sure. Did we want to walk from Maihama to our hotels? Nope, nada.
My brother Steven talked to the employee walking around with the train timetables. He laughed, said the train should have come, and walked away.
A train comes and we hop on, one of those trains that doesn't have a map showing its stops, or a full digital display. And then the train went fast. REALLY fast. We were on a rapid train, and when the next stop was announced, it was not even close to where we wanted to be.
In Japan there are local trains that stop at every stop, express trains that skip a stop or two, and rapid. If you accidentally hop on a rapid you can easily be stuck for tens of minutes, miles from where you want to be.
At that point we were frazzled!
I was a little scared.
The train station worker my brother frantically talked to asked for the best way to Maihama. I just wanted to get to Tokyo Station. It's huge, but I know how to get back from there. The worker shook his head. Said Tokyo Station was a bad idea. He was adamant. When a train suddenly came and opened he literally pushed us on the train, without touching, mind, and insisted we go back to Osaki station.
Osaki Station was where we had all our problems!
I didn't want to go back to Osaki.
Osaki lies.
But the train was moving. It was too late.
When the train came to a stop the doors opened. Everyone poured out.
And then, straight in front of us, was a train. Doors open. Sign reading Shin-Kiba.
Where we needed to go.
The train was at a platform completely different than what Google Maps listed.
When we entered the train we sat, nervous it was wrong. Nervous we were being led astray again. Wondering when the train would move, as it was practically empty. We waited over 10 minutes as people gradually trickled in. Then the train moved. The displayed stations were right.
We were relieved.
It was around 11:30 pm by the time we made it to Maihama Station, and just before midnight when we made it to our hotels.
We were so glad!
And we all vowed to never do that again.
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