Using Tokyo’s Tadaima Plus campaign is cheaper than calling a late-night taxi

Don’t worry about missing the last train until the campaign ends.

As part of a national travel support campaign, Tokyo has a special promotion they’re calling Tokyo Tadaima Plus (with “tadaima” meaning “I’m home”, a phrase people use when they return home in Japan).

Along with 40 percent of your accommodation fee, you’ll also receive coupons that you can exchange at participating stores or even use at your accommodation to make things even cheaper.

Our Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabatake tried out the Tokyo Tadaima Plus campaign at the women’s only capsule hotel that monitors your sleeping habits, Nine Hours Woman.

▼ She’ll sleep even more soundly with this discount.

Normally 5,500 yen (US$37.51) per night, Mariko used the campaign to bring it down to 3,300 yen, then used her Nine Hours membership to bring it down a further 300 yen for a final charge of 3,000 yen for the night.

This can be useful if, for instance, you miss your last train. Even in Tokyo, many train lines typically stop running around midnight or 1:00 a.m. After that, your only choices are to call a taxi–which can add up to well over 3,000 yen fairly quickly–grab a night bus if you happen to be in the right place at the right time; book a hotel; or get creative by staying at alternative places like manga cafés and karaoke rooms.

▼ One point is equivalent to one yen on this campaign.

So all of that considered, 3,000 yen was pretty cheap for a night away! And with the 3,000 yen of coupons Mariko received, she could technically whittle that down to 0 yen. Maybe missing the last train isn’t so bad after all!

Here are the specifics of the campaign. First off, the campaign is applicable to stays booked at participating hotels in Tokyo between October 20 and December 21, 2022. There are some standard hotels on the list like Toyoko Inn, but there are more affordable ones like capsule and business hotels as well.

▼ According to Mariko’s research, some of the participating hotels also have amenities like saunas!

By participating in the campaign, you can get up to 40 percent off your accommodation price. That maxes out at 8,000 yen if you’ve booked it with transportation from outside of Tokyo, such as Shinkansen tickets or plane tickets, or 5,000 yen without.

In addition, you’ll receive 3,000 yen in coupons if your stay is booked on a weekday, or 1,000 yen if you’ve booked on a weekend or national holiday. Since Mariko’s stay was on a weekday, she received 3,000 points, the equivalent of 3,000 yen.

Where can you use these coupons, you ask? At places like participating stores, restaurants and hotels. When Mariko looked up places, they were laid out neatly for her on a map on her phone.

▼ This is just around the east side of JR Shinjuku Station!

You can also identify participating outlets by these advertisements set up in-store with a QR code to scan for the Tokyo Tadaima Plus campaign.

▼ Just scan the code and you’re ready to go!

Mariko does want to warn, though, that it may be time-consuming to actually use the coupons if the staff aren’t familiar with how to use the system. She did get her coupons sorted out eventually at one restaurant, but it took a bit of time.

▼ The good eats were all worth it.

▼ She had no issues at places like drugstores like Cocokara Fine, though.

So whether you have Tokyo travel plans or just missed the last train, consider trying out the Tokyo Tadaima Plus campaign while you can. There are limited slots in the campaign for hotels, so they won’t be available if they’re super popular. Check out the details of the campaign in the links below (Japanese only) and happy travels!

Participating Hotels List: Ryokoshien Tokyo
Sources: Tadaima Tokyo Plus, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Images ©SoraNews24
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