What do people get wrong about IC cards (Suica, PASMO) in 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 It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.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.

The current options

• Sales of unregistered regular Suica and PASMO cards were suspended from 8 June 2023 to 1 March 2025 due to a chip shortage (registered cards returned in autumn 2023); unrestricted sales have since resumed.
• IC cards work for fares in all major urban areas, but not on every rural line, and a card cannot be used across some regional boundaries in a single journey.
• Maximum balance: ¥20,000.

[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.

Misunderstanding 1｜You need one card per city

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.

Misunderstanding 2｜Cash is easier

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.

Misunderstanding 3｜It is only for trains

Convenience stores, many supermarkets, vending machines, coin lockers and some taxis accept it. Tap the reader marked with the IC logo.

Misunderstanding 4｜You can top up with a foreign credit card at the machine

At station machines, top-up is cash only. Card top-up is possible inside Apple Wallet or the Welcome Suica Mobile app.

Misunderstanding 5｜The card works on the Shinkansen

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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Sources

• JR East — Welcome Suica

https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/

• JR East — Welcome Suica Mobile (app)

https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/mobile/

• PASMO — TOURIST PASMO (on sale from 20 May 2026, successor to the discontinued PASMO PASSPORT) and information for visitors

https://www.pasmo.co.jp/tourist-pasmo/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/

• Japan Tourism Agency — transport information for visitors

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.

About this article

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.

Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.

Rules and procedures change. Please confirm the latest official information before you act.

Sources

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