Value Village ／ Before you come to Japan
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Transport IC cards are the single most asked-about practical item before a trip. Much of what circulates online describes a system that has changed twice since 2023.
| Option | Who it suits | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Suica (physical, 28-day validity) | Short visits, Android or no phone | No ¥500 deposit; unused balance is not refunded |
| Welcome Suica Mobile (app, launched 6 March 2025) | iPhone / Apple Watch users | Top up by credit card via Apple Pay; 180-day validity; since October 2025 links with JR-EAST Train Reservation and Touch de Go! Shinkansen |
| Suica / PASMO in Apple Wallet | iPhone users staying longer | Can be topped up with foreign cards in Wallet |
| Regular Suica / PASMO (physical) | Longer stays | ¥500 deposit, refundable at the issuing operator's station (a ¥220 handling fee is deducted from any remaining balance) |
| Regional cards (ICOCA, manaca etc.) | Any | Interoperable for transport nationwide under the 10-card alliance |
[Verify] Launch dates, validity periods and refund rules with JR East (Welcome Suica page) and PASMO before publication. Service details changed in 2023 and 2025 and may change again.
The ten major IC cards are mutually accepted for transport across Japan. A Suica bought in Tokyo works on the Osaka subway and Fukuoka buses.
Fares between two stations often differ by a few yen for IC users, and buying paper tickets requires reading the fare map for every trip. The card removes that step.
Convenience stores, many supermarkets, vending machines, coin lockers and some taxis accept it. Tap the reader marked with the IC logo.
At station machines, top-up is cash only. Card top-up is possible inside Apple Wallet or the Welcome Suica Mobile app.
Ordinary IC cards do not cover Shinkansen fares by default. Separate services are needed: Smart EX (Tokaido/Sanyo/Kyushu), Touch de Go! Shinkansen for non-reserved seats on JR East lines (now linkable from Welcome Suica Mobile), or paper tickets. Note Hayabusa/Hayate are all-reserved.
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https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/
https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/mobile/
https://www.pasmo.co.jp/tourist-pasmo/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/
https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/en/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
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