Have you ever wondered what the quickest way to ride through all 106 stations on Tokyo’s four Toei Lines is? If you’re answer to that rather ironic question is yes then you have come to the right place but you really ought to see a doctor once you’ve read all about this most essential of challenges!

This map makes it look simpler than it really is! There are more stations than are marked on here!

Ever since I found out about the London Tube challenge nearly two decades ago I have thought about doing something similar for the Tokyo Metro. I even planned the route I’d undertake about eight years ago but have just never had quite enough desire to waste spend a whole day doing that. A good warm-up for that though was the shorter and more simpler Toei stations challenge.

The geographical reality!

Back in February 2024, I find myself at Nishi-takashimadaira (I27); the most north-western point on the Mita Line which marks the start of my adventure.

Just getting there in itself involved a 20 minute train ride and a 30 minute walk in the drizzly rain. The starting time was to be the 13:29 train.

The train is not surprisingly desserted as the journey begins on a quiet Friday afternoon. It’s light outside but within ten minutes the train’s beneath ground and into the tunnels. It’ll be a while before I see light again!

Having messed up a previous Metro challenge attempt at Jimbocho changing to the Shinjuku Line I’m a little apprehensive about transferring there. Incredibly I actually manage to get a slightly earlier train (14:03) than expected due to my quick transfer. Every minute counts on a day when I’m forever chasing time so I’m quite delighted.

The next change is at Shinjuku for the shortest train ride of the day as it’s just two minutes from there to Tochomae on this part of the magenta-coloured Oedo Line. It’s a lucky escape for me though as I briefly step on the wrong train before realising the error of my ways. Phew!

Over in the east of Tokyo at Kuramae station (near Asakusa) I’m three minutes later than scheduled as the train falls behind schedule. I then have to not only exit the ticket gates but go outside into the drizzle and run a few hundred metres down the road to enter the Asakusa Line. I wasn’t expecting that!

The ride from Kuramae to Higashi Nihombashi is just three minutes, and it’s then back onto the leaf green coloured Shinjuku Line…

…. as I gallop through the station to make the next connection whilst passing by a horse statue I’ve never noticed before!

My next port of call is the end of that line (Motoyawata station) in the far depths of eastern Tokyo but a quick change of train is needed at Bakuroyokoyama which is a rare station in Japan as very few begin with the letter B!

The number of passengers on board really thins out for the final dozen stations on this line and I have the carriage to myself at one point. The train emerges from underground near Ojima station and it’s nice to see some daylight even on this dreariest of days!

Of course I do nothing at Motoyawata other than instantly turn back for the 3:32 pm train to Jimbocho which takes about half an hour.

Every station on the Shinjuku Line has now been passed through. It’s a fairly minor milestone I guess but one has to break these challenges up into parts.

It’s just gone 4:00 pm when I depart Jimbocho for Meguro. That’s 2.5 hours of this challenge gone and I’m on the same line that I started on!

The blue-coloured Mita Line is the second of the four lines to be fully completed just before 4:30 pm but I’m not finished with it yet as I have to backtrack on it to Mita for the sake of then ticking off the first eight stations (in terms of the numbering) on the Asakusa Line in the direction of Nishi-Magome station.

A quick turn around there as I ride to the other end of the line at Oshiage (Skytree) station in just under 40 minutes. I’m not sure if I’m making this sound difficult in any way as it is basically just sitting or standing on trains but transits are sometimes needed just to continue on the same line as is the case here. That’s three of the Toei lines covered in full now as I return to Kuramae for the final leg of the journey.

It’s the longest one yet as I pass through 27 stations in a clockwise direction to the northern terminus of the Oedo Line at Hikarigaoka station. When planning my route I guess I thought I’d have a seat and be able to relax and maybe get some sleep but there’s fat chance of that as it’s peak evening traffic.

The day started with 1,420 yen on my IC card and ended with 1,045 yen so only 375 yen was spent on this most meaningless of challenges. The next train leaves Hikarigaoka at 7:03 pm but my time on the trains is over and I don’t need to board it as I’m taking the bus home. Instead, I can just get the next few photos done at a more lesiurely pace than all previous ones in this post.

It’s often said that the journey is better than the destination but when there is no real destination it’s difficult to judge that journey!

Yay! Look at the excitement on my face!

I personally felt no emotion or feeling of pride when I finished this challenge in 5.5 hours but as I’ve finally been compiling this post that has begun to change and whetted my appetite a little bit for my original goal of riding through each and every station on the nine Tokyo Metro Lines.

Click here to read ‘The Quickest Route For Passing Through All Tokyo Subway’s 13 Main Lines’

Click here to read ‘The Quickest Route To Ride The A-Z Of Tokyo Subway Stations!’

Click here to read ‘Cycling The Shortest Tokyo Subway Journey That Ticks Off The Alphabet’

Click here to read ‘Cycling Round The Yamanote Line In The Opposite Direction To 12 Years Ago!’