What's new

Is Tokyo safe at night?

Nocturne

先輩
24 May 2010
32
0
16
I was just wondering, is travelling the trains (10pm-12am) and walking back to hotels alone from stations in Tokyo, safe to do at night?

Especially for a 20-something female? 😌

Just thought I'd ask, as I'm a bit worried.

Thank you.
 
No need to worry Nocturne, it is very safe even for a foreign female in her 20's to walk the streets back to the hotel from the train. While no place anywhere is completely 100% safe, your chances of getting molested or mugged is near zero in Tokyo or anywhere in Japan for that matter.
 
I was just wondering, is travelling the trains (10pm-12am) and walking back to hotels alone from stations in Tokyo, safe to do at night?
Especially for a 20-something female? 😌
Just thought I'd ask, as I'm a bit worried.
Thank you.
Yes, Japan is a wonderfully safe country; one of the many perks of living here, but nothing is absolute. So just keep your guard up like you would anywhere else. Maybe you could get on google maps and plot your route. Also you should maybe take note of where all the "kobans" (police satellite stations) are at (they are all over the place) and take a route that will run you by many of them.
 
Being a female living and working in Tokyo, I can assure you that it is quite safe to walk from a train station to your hotel even very late at night, just as Pachipro and Chidoriashi say.
Generally train stations (including metro) and trains are quite safe - late at night you might encounter some drunk workers (mostly office workers) but usually they are quite harmless, just dozing off on the train or on the bench in the station.

Of course, you need to take precautions wherever you walk at night alone, but nothing serious to worry about.
I hope you'll enjoy your visit. :)
 
I often drive through Tokyo in the wee hours of the morning and quite often see young women walking alone at 2 or 3 o'clock along deserted sidewalks. It strikes me as foolhardy, but it is a common sight.

I sometimes spend the night in Tokyo sleeping in my truck and leave the doors unlocked. Depending on the weather I leave the windows rolled down. I have never had a problem and never expect to. But I am a 45 year old man, not an attractive 20-something female. (And if you're a white female, it doesn't matter what people back home think you look like.....lots of Japanese guys will think you're attractive. I worked with a guy who thinks Hillary Clinton is hot....go figure).

Safest place to be at night

I hope I don't sound like I'm picking on you, but in another post you indicated you are 16 years old and don't (currently) live in Japan. I'd just like to ask what you based your reply on.

The OP does still need to exercise some basic sensible precautions. The chances of a young woman, especially a foreigner alone, being victimized in some way are not zero. In the past, out here in the boondocks of Gunma, I have been called upon by some foreign women to call the police and translate for them regarding one of the women being trailed after by some creep in a car as she walked home.

The advice about planning routes that go by police boxes is good. Another precaution is to vary one's route and times. Walking the exact same path at the exact same time won't necessarily invite trouble, but it certainly makes things easier for any nutjob who happens to take an interest in you.
 
I hope I don't sound like I'm picking on you, but in another post you indicated you are 16 years old and don't (currently) live in Japan. I'd just like to ask what you based your reply on.


Friends. Yes you do sound like you're picking on me.
 
I was just wondering, is travelling the trains (10pm-12am) and walking back to hotels alone from stations in Tokyo, safe to do at night?
Especially for a 20-something female? 😌
Just thought I'd ask, as I'm a bit worried.
Thank you.

Nocturne, from my experience in Chicago at night, it would be wise for you to travel with someone, especially at night. It's common sense, so please use it. Tokyo undoubtedly suffers from the same problems any other large city has. Anyone telling you otherwise needs to grow some common sense of their own.
 
Would have to agree with the above, Tokyo is pretty much the safest city I've lived in. I haven't known any of my foreign female friends to have any troubles here either, though I guess it always pays to be sensible. Hope it's great!
 
I have NO experience with Tokyo or any other Japanese city...but my city (Prague, Czech Republic) is quite safe even when you walk there around midnight. But of course...tourists (and folks too) are often drunk and so around the center or pubs and clubs it could be more difficult.
But I remember one event for fans of Japanese culture...all girls dressed like lolitas or so had to watch out :D...organizer told us to be careful that around were seen some weird people :D
 
I was wondering the same thing. In two months i am visiting JAPAN! Wooo! I just hope some Yakuza members won't chop me to half lol...
 
I had no problem in Tokyo as a 22-year-old American male, but in my first month in Osaka I stayed at an apartment where I was stalked every day by some middle-aged Japanese guy. I'd be walking home from the subway, look over my shoulder, and there he was, right behind me. Every day.

He eventually worked up his nerve to follow me into my apartment building, and then took to stalking back and forth in the hallway outside my room. Finally one night he opened my door. As best as I could understand his Osaka-ben, he wanted me to go drinking with him somewhere. There was something in his eyes I didn't like, and ended up having to run him off with a pair of scissors.

I never did know what he was after, but the next day I went looking for a new apartment in a different part of town. Had no serious trouble after that. Had a couple of drunken men berate me in the late hours. One time when I missed the last bus from the station and was walking home, a salaryman stopped his Nissan sportscar and asked me, "Otoko kirai?" (Do you dislike men?)

I was standing there with my mouth open to thank him because I thought at first that he was offering me a ride. But when I managed a startled "uhn," he went zipping away.

Japan is a safe country, but it pays to know what neighborhood you're in, and to keep your wits.
 
I had no problem in Tokyo as a 22-year-old American male, but in my first month in Osaka I stayed at an apartment where I was stalked every day by some middle-aged Japanese guy. I'd be walking home from the subway, look over my shoulder, and there he was, right behind me. Every day.

He eventually worked up his nerve to follow me into my apartment building, and then took to stalking back and forth in the hallway outside my room. Finally one night he opened my door. As best as I could understand his Osaka-ben, he wanted me to go drinking with him somewhere. There was something in his eyes I didn't like, and ended up having to run him off with a pair of scissors.

I never did know what he was after, but the next day I went looking for a new apartment in a different part of town. Had no serious trouble after that. Had a couple of drunken men berate me in the late hours. One time when I missed the last bus from the station and was walking home, a salaryman stopped his Nissan sportscar and asked me, "Otoko kirai?" (Do you dislike men?)

I was standing there with my mouth open to thank him because I thought at first that he was offering me a ride. But when I managed a startled "uhn," he went zipping away.

Japan is a safe country, but it pays to know what neighborhood you're in, and to keep your wits.

I never knew there were gay men in Japan. I mean the girls are HOT as they come! lol :p
 
I never knew there were gay men in Japan. I mean the girls are HOT as they come! lol :p

Gay men exist all over the world. I understand that this may be shocking to some people, but maybe your neighbor is gay. Do you think they're out to get us? I don't think so, because I have plenty of gay friends, but then again, maybe it's this huge global conspiracy.

I better put my tin foil hat on.
 
Back
Top Bottom