Suica, Pasmo, Manaca... Everything to know about IC Cards !
- Published on : 30/09/2024
- by : Japan Experience
- Youtube
Carte ICOCA édition spéciale avec Hello Kitty et le château d'Osaka
© Note Thanun, Unsplash
A prepaid IC smartcard is the most convenient way to ride any transportation in Japan and pay for things in participating stores by simply swiping.
Presentation of IC Cards in Japan
Interchangeability Limitations
The 10 Interchangeable IC Cards: Suica, Pasmo...
Prepaid IC Cards
An IC (Integrated Circuit) card, or smart card, is a rechargeable plastic prepaid card used in Japan to pay train, metro, bus and monorail fares. You can also use it for e-payment at over 1.63 million stores, vending machines, station coin lockers, parking lots, and more.
An IC card, if registered, can also be used as a monthly pass for a specified route. Purchasing an IC card usually requires a 500 yen deposit, which is refundable. The amount of money on an IC card at any one time is referred to as the stored fare.
Most IC cards are contactless, so can be kept in a pouch or holder and passed lightly over the reader to effect payment.
IC Cards in Japan
IC transport cards made their appearance in Japan from around the start of the 21st century, the first adopter being the Skyrail Midorizaka Line monorail on the outskirts of Hiroshima, in 1998. JR East's Suica card followed in 2001, then the next year, the 8-station Saitama Railway Line was the first to adopt the Passnet card, which in 2007 became the Pasmo.
The next few years saw the appearance all over Japan of more than 20 different IC transportation cards. In 2013, the IC card system was substantially integrated, and most IC cards can now be used interchangeably, with some limitations.
You can use your IC Card on every major train lines and almost all the smaller train lines. Some buses accept the IC Card, but be mindful that a lot of city buses do not accept them. You will have to pay by cash. Highway Express Buses do not accept IC Cards, and to ride the Shinkansen with an IC Card, it demands a complicated manipulation and is only available for some trains. For these bullet trains, we advise you to buy individual tickets, or the Japan Rail Pass. You can ride limited express trains with an IC Card by paying a supplement fare. Your card will pay the base fare, and you need to buy another ticket at ticket machines or office.
The balance of your card can be checked at the ticket gate near the card reader or at a ticket machine.
Ticket gate with the IC card reader in a station
© RuinDig/Yuki Uchida, wikimedias
Three IC Card Choices
Whatever brand of IC card you buy, you have the following three choices:
- Blank, you simply purchase and start using. If your trip in Japan is short, this might be the easiest and best choice.
- Named (registered), with your name, gender, date of birth and telephone number, and the protection of being able to stop the card if it is lost or stolen, and of having it reissued without losing the stored fare.
- Commuter pass, a named card that can be used as a monthly pass, enjoying the discount afforded by a monthly pass. With a commuter pass, you will pay a certain amount of money every month based on the commute you do. Even while using an IC card as a monthly pass, you can still use it for travel outside the section of line covered by the pass, and recharge it as normal. A commuter pass IC card can be recharged on a monthly basis as a commuter pass, or, if no longer needed as a commuter pass, used as a normal card with no problem.
Purchasing and Charging IC Cards
An IC card costs most of the time around 500 yen, and you can charge it with the amount that you want, not exceeding 20,000 ￥. The 500 yen extra is refundable when you have finished with the card and returned it. Although, be aware that there is a commission fare of 220 yen to be refunded the money of your card. You can only be refunded in the area where the card is distributed. For example, for the Suica card, you need to go to a JR East desk to be refunded. If you’re planning to return to Japan, be aware that these cards are usable for a maximum of 10 years after the last use.
To buy the IC Card : you can go to a ticket machine or a ticket counters of JR and affiliated companies, like in Haneda Airport,
IC cards can be recharged at any station ticket machine that bears the IC card symbol, at a convenient store such as 7-Eleven or Family Mart using ATM or directly at the cash register.
At a station ticket machine, press the "Charge" button, insert the card, select the amount of the top-up, then insert banknotes. If you want a receipt, press the "Receipt" button before inserting money.
Registered Pasmo and Suica cards can be auto-charged (the official term being quick charged), but this requires registering the IC card to a specific (railway company-recommended) Japanese credit card. The auto-charge function works only within the area where the card was issued.
If you do a trip with not enough money on your card to pay the fair at the exit gate, you will always find a machine to add money on your IC Card, or a staff member to help you.
Lost Cards
Registering an IC card to your name saves you from loss if the card malfunctions or is lost, because an electronic record remains of the stored fare. Also, the card can be locked by contacting the IC card's issuing company. However, lost cards can be reissued only in stations of the area they were issued.
7 Eleven in Tokyo
© Bryan Beley, Unsplash
Suica on Mobile Phone
Suica and Pasmo have apps for smartphones that allow the user to do away with the plastic card and simply swipe a smartphone instead. Train reservations can also be made via the app. However, not all models of mobile phone and smartphone have the required chip inside. The only Apple products that have it are the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and Apple Watch Series 2 or later. The Suica app links to Apple Pay, so the card can be recharged using only your smartphone.
You can also simply have your Suica card in your Wallet, only on iPhone with Apple Pay. You can then use your phone to validate at the ticket gate. Learn more about the Suica on iPhone here : The Suica Card on iPhone: Our complete guide for the e-Suica in Japan | Japan Experience
The 10 Interchangeable IC Cards
Each card has its own distinctive theme and mascot.
Which card to buy ?
There are 10 major IC prepaid cards currently used in Japan, and since 2013 they have all been interchangeable with each other. The type of card you purchase depends on where you purchase it, and can be used in any area where the following 10 cards are issued. You can buy your IC card before you leave for your trip, or buy it directly where you arrive in any ticket machine or ticket counter.
Suica
Suica is issued by JR East for the Tokyo metropolitan region, for Niigata and for Sendai. Suica can be used not only on JR East lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but for metro, buses, and the Tokyo Monorail, which runs between Haneda Airport and Tokyo. "Suica" is an acronym for "Super Urban Intelligent CArd" and the card's green color relates to suika meaning "watermelon" in Japanese.
To enter a ticket gate in a Suica area, your Suica card must have at least the amount of the starting fare. In non-Suica areas, you can enter even with 0 yen on your card, but you must recharge it at the destination station before exiting the ticket gate.
Ticket gate at a station in Japan
© Taiki Ishikawa, Unsplash
Suica is the most advanced of the IC cards in Japan, can be managed online (requiring a special FeliCa Port/PaSoRi USB-attached card reader), and is also available as a smartphone app (usable with phones that have a compatible chip in them).
The Suica mascot is a penguin, and there are more cute Suica goods available, featuring the mascot, than any other of the main cards. Suica has a Suica Point Club by which points can be collected per amount spent at participating stores and businesses.
Pasmo
Pasmo is also a Tokyo metropolitan region IC card, but is issued by non-JR railway, metro and bus operators. Pasmo functions and features are almost identical to those of Suica, and Pasmo-related questions or problems can be addressed at any station where Suica is used.
Pasmo is identified by its cute, retro-looking rose-colored robot - that also appears in any of eight other colors. The Pasmo robot has big gentle black eyes, pincers for hands, and wheeled feet.
To enter a ticket gate in a Pasmo area, your IC card must have at least the amount of the starting fare.
Icoca
"Icoca" (ee-koh-ka – 行こうか) is a casual way of saying "Let's go!" in Japanese. Icoca is issued by JR West in the Osaka metropolitan region, Kyoto, Kobe, Okayama, and Hiroshima.
Kansai One Pass card
The Kansai One Pass is a special Icoca, also for foreign passport holders only, that has the bonus of special deals and discounts at numerous sightseeing spots and tourist attractions throughout the Kansai area.
To enter a ticket gate in an Icoca area, your IC card must have at least 1 yen on it.
Icoca card
© Lucie G, Japan Experience
PiTaPa
PiTaPa can is primarily a postpaid card (within its issuing area, with a prepaid function for outside of it) that is linked to the user's bank account, so not particularly oriented to travelers from overseas. Its issuing area is Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya - and a line in Shizuoka. The PiTaPa mascot is a little mauve ninja with a red belt, katana slung over back and shuriken in hand, called Pitamaru. PiTaPa is operated by the same company that sells the Kansai Thru Pass, available only to foreign tourists. To enter a ticket gate in a PiTaPa card area, your IC card must have at least 10 yen on it.
Toica
The Toica card is issued by JR Central (Central Japan Railway Company), and features two yellow chicks. The Toica first started in Nagoya, but its area now covers Shizuoka and stretches from as far east as the Izu Peninsula to as far west as parts of Gifu and Mie prefectures. Initial purchase of a Toica card costs 2,000 yen, 500 yen of which is the deposit. You can enter a ticket gate in a Toica card area with even 0 yen on your IC card, but must top it up before exiting at your destination.
Manaca
Manaca is, like Toica, also based in Nagoya, and is for use on non-JR trains and buses. Manaca features a yellow smily face. You can enter a ticket gate in a Manaca card area with even 0 yen on your IC card, but must top it up before exiting at your destination.
Kitaca
Kitaca is issued by JR Hokkaido and its mascot is a black and white bear. "Kita" means "north" in Japanese. The Kitaca area is the Sapporo metropolitan area and enables travel on trains, subways, buses and a tram.
To enter a ticket gate in a Kitaca card area, your IC card must have at least the amount of the starting fare.
Manaca charging machine at Meitetsu Gifu Station
© Yuya Tamai, wikimedias
Sugoca
Sugoka is issued by JR Kyushu. Sugoka is Fukuoka dialect for "Great!". The Sugoka card features a cartoon frog with a little red clock companion, both unimaginatively named "Frog Boy" (Kaeru-kun) and "Clock Boy" (Tokei-kun), who come with an extended family of no less than 8 different members. Sugoka covers all JR transportation services for much of Kyushu. To enter a ticket gate in a Sugoca card area, your IC card must have at least 10 yen on it.
Nimoca
Nimoca is the non-JR IC card for Kyushu, covering Nishitetsu lines in the Fukuoka metropolitan district, and certain other lines throughout Kyushu, and even municipal transport up the other end of Japan in Hakodate, Hokkaido. The Nimoca card features a yellow cartoon ferret. To enter a ticket gate in a Nimoca card area, your IC card must have at least 10 yen on it.
Hayakaken
Hayakaken is card issued by the Fukuoka Municipal Transport Authority for use on the municipal subway and buses. It features a dandy cartoon bear, with a railway uniform cap, called Chikamaru. To enter a ticket gate in a Hayakaken card area, your IC card must have at least 10 yen on it.
Interchangeability Limitations
Each kind of IC card you purchase in Japan depends on which part of Japan you purchase it in. A specific type of IC card is purchasable only within a particular area; however, if that card is one of the 10 main IC cards in Japan, it can be used wherever any of the others is issued.
Crossing Different IC Card Areas
You cannot do continuous travel between two areas served by different IC cards. If you board a train in one IC card area and get off in another, you have to show the card to the station staff at the destination ticket gate before exiting (so they know which station you boarded at). You will then pay your fare in cash and get a receipt. Your IC is now unusable until you get back to the sector it was issued in, because it lacks an electronic signature verifying that the trip was completed and paid for. So, when back in the sector where your IC card was issued, you must show the receipt to a station attendant, who will manually add data to your card showing that you properly completed and paid for the journey in question, making your card usable again.
Local IC Cards
There are several other minor cards around Japan that are either not usable outside the area they are issued in, or are only limitedly so.
Many of these minor cards have "mileage" capabilities, whereby accumulated points can be used for fare discounts.
Be aware that there also are many regional passes, that only work on specific trains and/or area, like the Tokyo Subway Pass, Kyoto Bus & Subway 1-day Pass and the Osaka Subway and Bus Pass. They can be a cheaper way to travel than using the IC Card on some sectors. You can mix these two types of transportation ticket.
