The Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, otherwise known as Toei Transportation, has teamed up with travel website Tripadvisor to present a new campaign titled Tokyo Surprise! The campaign aims to promote a lineup of experiences – carefully selected based on Tripadvisor reviews – that introduce Japanese culture to tourists visiting Tokyo.
Tokyo Surprise! will be showcased through various posters, the official website, leaflets and more, as well as through the star of the show — the new, limited, and specially designed train ticket. Tickets have been on sale since December 1, available for ¥700 for adults and ¥350 for children, as opposed to the ¥1,940 it would normally cost for the journey. One-day pass tickets are available for purchase at all stations on Toei Oedo Line.
A Ticket Full of Wonders
Toei Transportation and Tripadvisor unveiled the ticket on November 30 with featured guest and appointed ambassador of the campaign, Cathy Cat. The ticket doesn’t only look snazzy, it also has a few surprises in store, doing justice to its campaign title. Out of the 10,000 tickets, 100 winning tickets (distinguishable by the “当” mark) will reward their recipients with an original novelty gift set from Toei Transportation.
Winning tickets can be redeemed at Ueno-okachimachi, Monzen-nakacho, Daimon, Aoyama-itchome, and Tocho-mae stations on the Oedo line. If you submit your winning ticket by mail, it will be added to a raffle where you can have the chance to win the Toei Transportation Super Mystery Tour, gaining exclusive access to a special, secret place unknown to the public.
Why This Campaign?
In 2016, Toei Transportation and Tripadvisor presented the campaign titled Tokyo100, promoting the top 100 sightseeing and gourmet spots, selected through Tripadvisor’s reviews. Ryuhei Kimoto, director of Toei Transportation, said Tokyo Surprise! can be considered a spinoff, or addition, to this project. This time, the focus is on experiences that received stellar reviews, instead of sightseeing spots. Tripadvisor representative Shohei Nishibayashi elaborates, “There’s a big difference between Japanese people and travelers from overseas. When Japanese people travel, many of them search for sightseeing areas, whereas travelers from overseas search for what experiences they can enjoy.”
Indeed, his words reflect Tripadvisor’s website when comparing English and Japanese homepages. On the Japanese homepage, the three main categories are “accommodations, restaurants, and sightseeing areas.” On the English homepage, the first two categories are identical but the last one is changed to “things to do.” The campaign specifically caters to the last category, benefiting both locals who have yet to discover Tokyo’s hidden charms, and tourists from overseas.
Find the ticket route and Tokyo Surprise’s top recommended experiences on the official website.
