Getting around

To get around IPMU, bicycles are the most convenient means. The immediate neighborhood is yet to be commercially developed, but there are two convenience stores right next to the campus (Family Mart and Lawson). You will to walk for about ten minutes to find a couple of restaurants. (Actually the udon noodle place 10 minutes from IPMU is quite good.) With a bicycle, you can get to many others within 5-10 minutes. You can rent a “Rent-a-cycle” at the Kashiwanoha Campus station for 200 yen/day. If you stay at on-site dormitory, you can rent a bike for free. Kashiwanoha Campus station comes with a shopping mall called Lalaport. It has a good grocery store (Tokyu), many restaurants, a food court, a book store, a movie theater complex, a gym and many other shops.

 

To get around the Greater Tokyo Area (including IPMU area), the best way is to use the public transportation. The train system in Japan is very reliable with good English signage. It is punctual and its typical systematic error is less than a minute. If you spend more than a week in Japan and plan to use the public transportation, we would recommend you to get a Suica or Pasmo prepaid card. It uses contactless radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. You just wave it over the card reader (even if it is inside your wallet or purse) at the gate to enter or exit a station which saves you time to buy tickets. It can be used at the on-site cafeteria (Ikoi), many eateries and convenience stores. You get one at the station with 500 yen deposit. You can recharge it at the on-site cafeteria or a train station using cash.

 

Suica and Pasmo can be also used on most bus lines, including those run by Tobu (pronounced toh-boo) bus company serving the IPMU area. One problem is that many bus signages are only in Japanese. You should look for the front side of the bus where it shows destination both in Japanese and English.

 

LaLaport Kashiwanoha

PASMO

SUICA