One of the many great things about visiting Tokyo is it’s transportation system.  The city is very well connected by trains and highways.

Study this train route diagram.  On top, there are the two big numbers indicating the direction of travel and the corresponding platform number.  In the middle is an alphabet indicate the train line (each train line got a different alphabet).  And in the diagram below shows numbered train stations (the circled number below the route) and the number of minutes from the current station to the other stations (number within the route).  The name of the current station is highlighted in red (station E03).  The two arrows below the current station tells you the direction in relation to all the stations (the font and the font weight is proportional to the direction number at the top of the diagram).  And if you look at the lower right hand site, you will see that E17 takes 27 minutes if you use platform 2, and would take longer than 29 minutes if you take platform 1.  Also a lot of stations are connected to other train lines as illustrated by the different color circles on top of each station number.  With all this information, you can tell your friends exactly where you are, traveling in which direction and the approximate time of arrival without ambiguity.  I love graphic communication in Asia.

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