How to Say "A Metro Ticket, Please" in Japanese: Buying Subway Tickets and Choosing Fare Options
Learn to ask for a metro ticket in Japanese, name your destination, and understand fare and zone options at the ticket machine or counter.
By SofiaGetting around · Yapr Learn
Buying a subway ticket in Japan is quick once you know three things: how to ask for a ticket, how to say where you are going, and how to ask about the fare. This lesson gives you the exact phrases for the ticket counter and the machines, plus the words for the fare and the zone system. You will also learn how to ask for a one-way ticket, how to check the price to a station, and how to add money to an IC card if you already have one. Everything here works on Tokyo Metro, Osaka Metro, and most other Japanese subways.
By the end, you can…
- ask for a metro ticket in Japanese.
- say my destination station and ask how much the fare is.
- understand and ask about fare zones and ticket options.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
メトロの切符を一枚ください。
A metro ticket, please. (one ticket)
ME-to-ro no kip-pu o i-chi-mai ku-da-sai
The core request. 一枚 (ichi-mai) is the counter for flat things like tickets. Use it at a staffed counter or when a station worker asks what you need.
新宿までお願いします。
To Shinjuku, please.
Shin-ju-ku ma-de o-ne-gai shi-ma-su
Say your destination plus まで (made, "as far as") and お願いします. This is the most natural way to tell the clerk where you are going.
新宿までいくらですか。
How much is it to Shinjuku?
Shin-ju-ku ma-de i-ku-ra de-su ka
Use this to ask the fare before buying. いくら (ikura) means "how much." Works at the counter and with station staff.
片道を一枚ください。
One one-way ticket, please.
ka-ta-mi-chi o i-chi-mai ku-da-sai
片道 (katamichi) means "one way." Use it when the clerk asks whether you want one-way or round-trip (往復, ōfuku). The particle を marks the ticket as the object of ください.
チャージはどこですか。
Where can I top up (my IC card)?
chā-ji wa do-ko de-su ka
Use this if you already have an IC card such as Suica or ICOCA and need to add money. チャージ (chāji) is the standard word for topping up.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The pattern [destination] + まで + お願いします is the workhorse for buying any ticket. まで marks the endpoint: 渋谷までお願いします (Shibuya made onegaishimasu, "To Shibuya, please"). To ask the price, swap the ending: 渋谷までいくらですか (Shibuya made ikura desu ka, "How much to Shibuya?"). If you want to be explicit, say 切符を一枚 (kippu o ichi-mai, "one ticket"). You can also name the line: 銀座線で新宿まで (Ginza-sen de Shinjuku made, "to Shinjuku on the Ginza Line"). Keep the destination first, then まで, then your request.
When to use it
Use メトロの切符を一枚ください at a staffed window when you simply want one ticket and will figure out the fare from the machine. Use 新宿までお願いします when you are at the counter and the clerk is waiting for your destination. Use 新宿までいくらですか when you want the price first, for example to compare with an IC card fare. At the machines, you usually do not speak at all: you press the English button, tap your destination, and insert money. If a machine only shows a fare map, find your station and pay the amount shown. If you already have an IC card, skip the ticket and use チャージはどこですか to find a top-up machine.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
すみません、メトロの切符を一枚ください。
Excuse me, one metro ticket, please.su-mi-ma-sen, ME-to-ro no kip-pu o i-chi-mai ku-da-saiはい。どちらまでですか。
Certainly. Where to?hai. do-chi-ra ma-de de-su ka新宿までお願いします。いくらですか。
To Shinjuku, please. How much is it?Shin-ju-ku ma-de o-ne-gai shi-ma-su. i-ku-ra de-su ka二百円です。券売機でどうぞ。
It is 200 yen. Please use the ticket machine.ni-hya-ku en de-su. ken-bai-ki de dō-zoA little context goes a long way
Japanese subway fares are usually distance-based, not simple flat zones, so the price depends on how far you travel. Station names are announced and written in kanji, hiragana, and romaji, so you can match your destination easily. At the counter, staff speak polite Japanese; a short すみません (sumimasen) to get attention and お願いします to make your request are enough. Do not hand money directly to the clerk unless they extend a tray; place it in the tray instead.
One thing to watch for
Saying メトロの切符をください when you want to specify one ticket, or adding を twice, as in 切符をを一枚ください.
Try this instead: Use the counter 一枚 (ichi-mai) after を: 切符を一枚ください (kippu o ichi-mai kudasai). If you want two, say 二枚 (ni-mai). The particle を appears once, before the counter phrase.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you ask for one metro ticket in Japanese?
Show a sample answer
メトロの切符を一枚ください。
This uses を plus the counter 一枚 (ichi-mai) for one flat item. メトロの切符をください is also acceptable if the number is clear from context.
2You are going to Ueno. What do you say at the ticket counter?
Show a sample answer
上野までお願いします。
Destination plus まで plus お願いします is the standard polite request. 上野までです also works in casual speech.
3How do you ask the fare to Shinjuku?
Show a sample answer
新宿までいくらですか。
まで marks the destination and いくらですか asks the price. You could also say 新宿までの運賃はいくらですか (Shinjuku made no unchin wa ikura desu ka), which is more formal.
Remember three pieces: 切符を一枚ください for the ticket, [destination] までお願いします to state where you are going, and [destination] までいくらですか to ask the fare. With these, you can buy a subway ticket anywhere in Japan.
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