PASMO!

Excuse me while I gush about my PASMO! In my opinion, PASMO is the best thing to hit Japan since fried shrimp patty sandwiches found their way to McDonalds.

As anyone who has been to Tokyo can tell you, navigating all the separate commuter train and subway routes is hard stuff. It can be hard for Japanese people, not to mention “deer in the headlights” eyed gaijin who stare at the colorful matrix of squiggly route lines in utter confusion as grand central station swirls around them.

PASMO takes much of the confusion of having to stare at confusing route maps and buy exact fair tickets away. While transportation cards are nothing new in Japan, they were always with stipulations; such as, cardholders could only ride on the subway lines, or, cardholders could only ride within Tokyo proper, etc. Since many railways are owned by small private companies, oftentimes a pass wouldn’t work at smaller stations and with smaller independent lines.

PASMO (which was introduced last year…so it’s new to me) is standardized and can be used on virtually any line within the city big or small (as well as city busses and other modes of transport). You can buy a personalized pass with your name on it and recharge it with funds at nearly any ticketing machine. Plus, since the card is magnetized, it can be kept in your wallet when going through the ticket gate. All you have to do is hold your closed wallet up to the scan pad and within seconds you’re granted access, with the fare being automatically deducted from your account.

Needless to say, the PASMO is incredibly handy and it makes commuting in Tokyo as easy as I’ve ever known it. The only potential warning is that you have to be sure to keep track of your card balance by looking at the display screen as you leave the ticket gate. Since you’ll find yourself whizzing through any ticketing gate like it’s nobody’s business, money can drain quickly as you transfer from route to route.

Yay for technology! Yay for PASMO!

B.E.W.