Suica
Encyclopedia
is a rechargeable contactless smart card
used as a fare card on train lines in Japan. Launched in November 2001, the card is usable currently in the Kantō region
, at JR East
stations near Sendai
and Niigata
. The card can also be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA
card in the Kansai
region and Sanyo region in Okayama
, Hiroshima
, and Yamaguchi
Prefectures, and also with JR Central
's TOICA
starting from spring of 2008, JR Kyushu
's SUGOCA
, Nishitetsu
's Nimoca
, and Fukuoka City Subway
's Hayakaken
area in Fukuoka City and its suburb areas, starting from spring of 2010. The card is also increasingly being accepted as a form of electronic money
for purchases at stores and kiosks, especially within train stations. As of October 2009, 30.01 million Suica cards are in circulation.
Since Suica is completely interchangeable with the Pasmo
card (see for the complete listing of companies and lines that accept Suica) in the greater Tokyo
area, it is supported on virtually any train, tramway, and bus system (excluding various limited and shinkansen
trains, as well as a few local buses as the system is still in the process of being extended to all routes).
, the technology inside the smart card, in common Japanese usage. An additional meaning comes from the expression "sui sui", meaning "smooth" and an abbreviation for "card", "ka", intended to highlight the smooth simplicity of using the card compared with traditional train tickets.
Most vending machine
s, kiosks, and coin-operated lockers within JR stations can be paid with the card. In addition to payment, the card is also used as an electronic key to open the specific locker used. Outside of train stations, chain stores such as FamilyMart
, am/pm, 7-Eleven
, Ministop
, Circle K Sunkus
, Yodobashi Camera
and Bic Camera
support transactions with Suica, however mostly restricted to the Kantō region
only. A few shops at Narita International Airport
, and Taxis accept Suica cards. Stores that accept Suica are indicated by displaying either a Suica, Pasmo, Kitaca, Icoca, Toica, Sugoca, Nimoca, or Hayakaken logo.
The card can also be used to make payments at supporting online shops, which requires the consumer to own a Sony FeliCa
Reader hardware and a PC running the Windows operating system.
As of 2004, JR East employees use the card as an employee ID card.
Usage of the card involves passing it over a card reader. The technology allows for the card to be read at some distance from the reader, so contact is not required. Many people leave the card in their wallet and just pass the wallet over the reader as they enter the ticket gate.
The balance on the card is displayed when you enter the ticket gate this way. The minimum fare is needed on the card when entering the train system, which is not deducted at that time. The balance is also displayed whenever the card is inserted into the ticket or fare adjustment machines as well. A travel record is stored on the card, and can be displayed or printed out at the same place where one can purchase and reload the Suica cards.
On exit, the card is again passed over the card reader. At this time the fare is deducted from the remaining balance from the card and the new balance is displayed.
The card can also be used to store a commuter pass. This is available for purchase from regular ticket vending machines and allows a Monthly, 3-monthly or Annual pass for travel between two JR stations to be stored on the card.
On occasion, when traveling to a station where Suica is not supported, the card must be handed over to the staff at the exiting station, so that they can calculate the remaining fare and return a slip of paper which must be given to the staff at the next station where Suica is used. Since the system keeps track when a card enters and leaves a station, if the records show that the card had entered a station but not left (due to the situation such as described above, or technical malfunctions), the station staff can reset the card.
, which includes a 500 yen deposit that will be refunded if the card is returned. The remaining 1,500 yen is immediately available for train rides, and more money can be charged on to the card (in 1,000 yen, 2,000 yen, 3,000 yen, 4,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen increments), up to a card maximum of 20,000 yen, at similar ticket vending machines or fare adjustment machines displaying the Suica logo inside each station.
A Suica card works as the standard prepaid Suica card (with user's name available on it) which can be used to ride trains in the place of paper tickets, or it can become the Suica commuter pass for unlimited traveling between two destinations for work or school. The Suica commuter pass also doubles as a prepaid Suica card for purchases or tickets outside of the normal commute route.
The VIEW Suica card pairs the prepaid Suica with a credit card. Various types exist, including at least one available through JR
and View, and others such as the Bic Camera Suica. These function both as a pre-paid Suica as well as a regular credit card, and provide an auto-charge feature to prevent exhausting the Suica balance unintentionally. The automatically recharged amount is added to the user's credit card bill. Thus, these cards have two balances: a prepaid Suica balance and a credit balance for which monthly bills are sent. Thus, store-related cards like the Bic Suica card can include fully three separate functions: serving as a store point card, a general use Suica, and as a credit card. Any credit purchase (restricted, in the case of Bic, to JCB
) adds a small amount to the available points on the store point card. Yet another type of Suica card offered by Japan Airlines
(JAL) that is called JALCARD Suica. In addition to having Suica and credit card functionalities, a JALCARD Suica card can also function as an electronic boarding pass for a JAL-operated domestic flight in Japan at an airport that offers the JAL IC service.
The MySuica card allows users to input personal information at the time the card is created. If the card is later lost or stolen, the user can obtain a new card with the previous balance.
Ticket gates return an error when the scan encounters more than one compatible card. Although it is intended that each person have only one Suica card, many people have more than one. Further, since the introduction of PASMO
in March 2007, more people have at least one of each. Consequently, JR has begun, and intensified since March, an awareness campaign to discourage commuters from storing multiple cards together. Incompatible cards, such as Edy
, seem to have an inconsistent effect on a machine's ability to read the card which may depend on the reading device. On the other hand, the Express-IC
(EX-IC) card for Tokaido Shinkansen reservations is meant to be used in this manner (stacked on either a Suica or ICOCA
to facilitate transfer between Shinkansen and regular lines).
, called FeliCa
. The same technology is also deployed in the Edy
electronic cash cards used in Japan, the Octopus card
in Hong Kong
, and the ezlink
Card in Singapore
.
, a smart card
solution to replace the existing Passnet magnetic card system. Through collaboration with JR East, passengers can use Suica cards wherever PASMO cards are accepted to ride any railway or bus in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Monthly passes for JR East lines can only be on Suica cards, while monthly passes for Tokyo Metro can only be on PASMO cards but otherwise, the cards are functionally identical for commuters.
This agreement has since been implemented with other systems across Japan; Suica cards can now be used on JR West's ICOCA, JR Central's TOICA, and JR Hokkaido's Kitaca systems. Usage agreements on other systems are planned in the future.
Transit systems/lines usable with the Suica card include:
Other transit systems outside of the Suica system where Suica can be used include:
has been incorporated into mobile FeliCa wallet phones by Japan's mobile operators. This system includes Java applications to manage the Suica function in the mobile phone
, to recharge the Suica card stored in the mobile phone, review the stored value and perform other functions via the mobile phone. An enhancement for 2007 will allow for Suica charges to be added directly to the phone bill, eliminating the requirement to constantly add to and monitor the remaining balance.
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
used as a fare card on train lines in Japan. Launched in November 2001, the card is usable currently in the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
, at JR East
East Japan Railway Company
is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....
stations near Sendai
Sendai, Miyagi
is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region. In 2005, the city had a population of one million, and was one of Japan's 19 designated cities...
and Niigata
Niigata, Niigata
is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It lies on the northwest coast of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and faces the Sea of Japan and Sado Island....
. The card can also be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA
ICOCA
The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe...
card in the Kansai
Kansai
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
region and Sanyo region in Okayama
Okayama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...
, Hiroshima
Hiroshima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...
, and Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...
Prefectures, and also with JR Central
Central Japan Railway Company
The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...
's TOICA
TOICA
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for JR Central railway network which was introduced in the Chūkyō Area of Japan on November 25, 2006.The name is an acronym for Tōkai IC Card...
starting from spring of 2008, JR Kyushu
Kyushu Railway Company
The , also referred to as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea.When Japan Railways was divided in...
's SUGOCA
SUGOCA
is a Japanese rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture and environs. The Kyūshū Railway Company introduced the system on 1 March 2009...
, Nishitetsu
Nishi-Nippon Railroad
The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real-estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture. In addition, from 1950 to 1972, the company owned the Lions...
's Nimoca
Nimoca
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nishi-Nippon Railroad introduced the system on May 18, 2008. Its name is an acronym of "nice money card", while in Japanese means "also," as the card is usable also on buses, also on...
, and Fukuoka City Subway
Fukuoka City Subway
The serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line).The lines are operated by the . Unlike most other public operators in Japan, the company only operates subways without any bus lines....
's Hayakaken
Hayakaken
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau introduced the system from 7 March 2009. Its name stands for , , , and . also means "Because it's quick" in Kyūshū dialect...
area in Fukuoka City and its suburb areas, starting from spring of 2010. The card is also increasingly being accepted as a form of electronic money
Electronic money
Electronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...
for purchases at stores and kiosks, especially within train stations. As of October 2009, 30.01 million Suica cards are in circulation.
Since Suica is completely interchangeable with the Pasmo
PASMO
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport introduced in Tokyo, Japan, on March 18, 2007.Pasmo is a development of the system used by many non JR railway lines in the Tokyo region...
card (see for the complete listing of companies and lines that accept Suica) in the greater Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
area, it is supported on virtually any train, tramway, and bus system (excluding various limited and shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
trains, as well as a few local buses as the system is still in the process of being extended to all routes).
Etymology
Suica stands for "Super Urban Intelligent Card", and the pronunciation is also a pun on the Japanese word for watermelon, "suika". In the logo, the "ic" is highlighted, as the initials stand for integrated circuitIntegrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
, the technology inside the smart card, in common Japanese usage. An additional meaning comes from the expression "sui sui", meaning "smooth" and an abbreviation for "card", "ka", intended to highlight the smooth simplicity of using the card compared with traditional train tickets.
Uses
While Suica's primary usage is as a fare card for transportation services, it can also be used as electronic money for general purchases. With the exception of archaic models of the Suica card, all Suica cards have the logo, which indicates that the card can be used as an electronic money in addition to train fare usage. Older cards without the logo can be replaced at no cost.Most vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
s, kiosks, and coin-operated lockers within JR stations can be paid with the card. In addition to payment, the card is also used as an electronic key to open the specific locker used. Outside of train stations, chain stores such as FamilyMart
FamilyMart
is a convenience store franchise chain first opened in Japan on September 1, 1981. FamilyMart is Japan's third largest convenience store chain, behind 7-Eleven and Lawson, and the largest chain store in South Korea. FamilyMart is owned and overseen by FamilyMart Company, Limited...
, am/pm, 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
, Ministop
Ministop
, a member of ÆON Group, operates the Ministop convenience store franchise chain in Japan. Unlike most other convenience stores in Japan, Ministop stores feature a kitchen that prepares sandwiches, snacks and take out bento boxes on demand, and has a seating area where customers can sit down and...
, Circle K Sunkus
Circle K Sunkus
' is a chain of company-operated and franchised convenience stores in Japan. The company is a division of UNY Co., Ltd., which licensed the Circle K name from Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian convenience store company that owns the Circle K brand....
, Yodobashi Camera
Yodobashi Camera
Yodobashi Camera Co.,Ltd. is a chain store mainly selling electronic products. Currently, there are 21 stores in Japan. It also maintains two online stores in China; one with a limited selection of products from its Japanese online store through SBI VeriTrans that supports payments by UnionPay,...
and Bic Camera
Bic Camera
is a consumer electronics retailer chain in Japan. Currently, it has 39 stores in Japan.It has a 15% stake in Best Denki and a wholly owned subsidiary, Sofmap.-Stores in Tokyo:*Yurakucho Honkan*Yurakucho Terebi-Kan*Ikebukuro Honten...
support transactions with Suica, however mostly restricted to the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
only. A few shops at Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport
is an international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is located east of Tokyo Station and east-southeast of Narita Station in the city of Narita, and the adjacent town of Shibayama....
, and Taxis accept Suica cards. Stores that accept Suica are indicated by displaying either a Suica, Pasmo, Kitaca, Icoca, Toica, Sugoca, Nimoca, or Hayakaken logo.
The card can also be used to make payments at supporting online shops, which requires the consumer to own a Sony FeliCa
FeliCa
FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for Felicity Card...
Reader hardware and a PC running the Windows operating system.
As of 2004, JR East employees use the card as an employee ID card.
Functions/services
The balance on the card is displayed when you enter the ticket gate this way. The minimum fare is needed on the card when entering the train system, which is not deducted at that time. The balance is also displayed whenever the card is inserted into the ticket or fare adjustment machines as well. A travel record is stored on the card, and can be displayed or printed out at the same place where one can purchase and reload the Suica cards.
On exit, the card is again passed over the card reader. At this time the fare is deducted from the remaining balance from the card and the new balance is displayed.
The card can also be used to store a commuter pass. This is available for purchase from regular ticket vending machines and allows a Monthly, 3-monthly or Annual pass for travel between two JR stations to be stored on the card.
On occasion, when traveling to a station where Suica is not supported, the card must be handed over to the staff at the exiting station, so that they can calculate the remaining fare and return a slip of paper which must be given to the staff at the next station where Suica is used. Since the system keeps track when a card enters and leaves a station, if the records show that the card had entered a station but not left (due to the situation such as described above, or technical malfunctions), the station staff can reset the card.
Points of purchase
These cards are available at card vending machines at the train stations that allows Suica. A new card costs 2,000 yenJapanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
, which includes a 500 yen deposit that will be refunded if the card is returned. The remaining 1,500 yen is immediately available for train rides, and more money can be charged on to the card (in 1,000 yen, 2,000 yen, 3,000 yen, 4,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen increments), up to a card maximum of 20,000 yen, at similar ticket vending machines or fare adjustment machines displaying the Suica logo inside each station.
Types of cards
Suica cards are sold by three railway companies- Suica card: sold by JR East
- MySuica card: sold by JR East
- View Suica card: sold by JR East
- Rinkai Suica card: sold by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (Rinkai Line)
- Monorail Suica card: sold by Tokyo MonorailTokyo Monorail, officially the , is a monorail system connecting Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, to Hamamatsuchō Station in Minato, Tokyo. The trains operate along an elevated line that follows the coast of Tokyo Bay. The trip from the airport to Hamamatsuchō costs ¥470 each way.-History:The line opened in...
A Suica card works as the standard prepaid Suica card (with user's name available on it) which can be used to ride trains in the place of paper tickets, or it can become the Suica commuter pass for unlimited traveling between two destinations for work or school. The Suica commuter pass also doubles as a prepaid Suica card for purchases or tickets outside of the normal commute route.
The VIEW Suica card pairs the prepaid Suica with a credit card. Various types exist, including at least one available through JR
Japan Railways
The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as , consists of seven for-profit companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways on April 1, 1987...
and View, and others such as the Bic Camera Suica. These function both as a pre-paid Suica as well as a regular credit card, and provide an auto-charge feature to prevent exhausting the Suica balance unintentionally. The automatically recharged amount is added to the user's credit card bill. Thus, these cards have two balances: a prepaid Suica balance and a credit balance for which monthly bills are sent. Thus, store-related cards like the Bic Suica card can include fully three separate functions: serving as a store point card, a general use Suica, and as a credit card. Any credit purchase (restricted, in the case of Bic, to JCB
Japan Credit Bureau
Japan Credit Bureau is a credit card company based in Tokyo, Japan. Its English name is .Founded in 1961, JCB established dominance over the Japanese credit card market when it purchased Osaka Credit Bureau in 1968, and its cards are now issued in 20 different countries...
) adds a small amount to the available points on the store point card. Yet another type of Suica card offered by Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines
is an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
(JAL) that is called JALCARD Suica. In addition to having Suica and credit card functionalities, a JALCARD Suica card can also function as an electronic boarding pass for a JAL-operated domestic flight in Japan at an airport that offers the JAL IC service.
The MySuica card allows users to input personal information at the time the card is created. If the card is later lost or stolen, the user can obtain a new card with the previous balance.
Ticket gates return an error when the scan encounters more than one compatible card. Although it is intended that each person have only one Suica card, many people have more than one. Further, since the introduction of PASMO
PASMO
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport introduced in Tokyo, Japan, on March 18, 2007.Pasmo is a development of the system used by many non JR railway lines in the Tokyo region...
in March 2007, more people have at least one of each. Consequently, JR has begun, and intensified since March, an awareness campaign to discourage commuters from storing multiple cards together. Incompatible cards, such as Edy
Edy
Edy provided by bitWallet, Inc. in Japan is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card. It uses Sony's FeliCa technology, also used by the competing Suica/Pasmo cards by JR East. While the name derives from euro, dollar, and yen, it works with yen only.On April 18, 2006, Intel announced a five...
, seem to have an inconsistent effect on a machine's ability to read the card which may depend on the reading device. On the other hand, the Express-IC
EX-IC
EX-IC is a contactless smart card system that enables ticketless travel on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Sanyō Shinkansen lines in Japan...
(EX-IC) card for Tokaido Shinkansen reservations is meant to be used in this manner (stacked on either a Suica or ICOCA
ICOCA
The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe...
to facilitate transfer between Shinkansen and regular lines).
Technology
The card incorporates contactless radio frequency identification (RFID) technology developed by SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, called FeliCa
FeliCa
FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for Felicity Card...
. The same technology is also deployed in the Edy
Edy
Edy provided by bitWallet, Inc. in Japan is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card. It uses Sony's FeliCa technology, also used by the competing Suica/Pasmo cards by JR East. While the name derives from euro, dollar, and yen, it works with yen only.On April 18, 2006, Intel announced a five...
electronic cash cards used in Japan, the Octopus card
Octopus card
The Octopus card is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used to transfer electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong...
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and the ezlink
EZ-Link
The EZ-Link card is a contactless smart card based on the Sony FeliCa smartcard technology and used for the payment of public transportation fares in Singapore, with limited use in the small payments retail sector...
Card in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Usage with other systems
On March 18, 2007, the Tokyo-area private railways, bus companies, and subways implemented PASMOPASMO
is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport introduced in Tokyo, Japan, on March 18, 2007.Pasmo is a development of the system used by many non JR railway lines in the Tokyo region...
, a smart card
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
solution to replace the existing Passnet magnetic card system. Through collaboration with JR East, passengers can use Suica cards wherever PASMO cards are accepted to ride any railway or bus in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Monthly passes for JR East lines can only be on Suica cards, while monthly passes for Tokyo Metro can only be on PASMO cards but otherwise, the cards are functionally identical for commuters.
This agreement has since been implemented with other systems across Japan; Suica cards can now be used on JR West's ICOCA, JR Central's TOICA, and JR Hokkaido's Kitaca systems. Usage agreements on other systems are planned in the future.
Transit systems/lines usable with the Suica card include:
- Suica
- East Japan Railway CompanyEast Japan Railway Companyis the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....
(JR East) lines in the Kanto, Niigata and Sendai areas - Tokyo MonorailTokyo Monorail, officially the , is a monorail system connecting Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, to Hamamatsuchō Station in Minato, Tokyo. The trains operate along an elevated line that follows the coast of Tokyo Bay. The trip from the airport to Hamamatsuchō costs ¥470 each way.-History:The line opened in...
- Saitama New Urban TransitIna LineThe New Shuttle , is a Japanese human-operated rubber-tyred automated guideway transit system.The 12.7-kilometre that runs north from Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama, along Jōetsu Shinkansen through Ageo to Uchijuku Station in Ina in Saitama Prefecture in the Greater Tokyo Area is the only...
(New Shuttle) - Sendai Airport TransitSendai Airport LineThe is an airport rail link service connecting Sendai Airport to Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Rail service began on March 18, 2007. The line was severely damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and service was suspended indefinitely from 11 March 2011, not reopening until 1 October, nearly 7...
- Izu Kyūkō LineIzu Kyuko LineThe is a privately owned railway line of Izukyū Corporation in Shizuoka Prefecture, JapanThe line runs along the eastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, a tourist district noted for its numerous hot spring resorts and golf courses, between Itō Station in Itō and Izukyū-Shimoda Station in Shimoda...
(from Spring 2010) - Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (Rinkai Line)
- East Japan Railway Company
Other transit systems outside of the Suica system where Suica can be used include:
- Kitaca
- Hokkaido Railway CompanyHokkaido Railway CompanyThe is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group , and thus often known as . It operates intercity rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, from autumn 2008....
(JR Hokkaido) lines in the Sapporo area
- Hokkaido Railway Company
- TOICA
- Central Japan Railway CompanyCentral Japan Railway CompanyThe is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...
(JR Central) lines in the Greater Nagoya area
- Central Japan Railway Company
- ICOCA
- West Japan Railway CompanyWest Japan Railway Company, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshū. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka.-History:...
(JR West) lines in the Greater Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima areas
- West Japan Railway Company
- PASMO
- SUGOCA
- Kyushu Railway CompanyKyushu Railway CompanyThe , also referred to as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea.When Japan Railways was divided in...
(JR Kyushu) lines in Fukuoka area.
- Kyushu Railway Company
- Hayakaken
- Fukuoka City SubwayFukuoka City SubwayThe serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line).The lines are operated by the . Unlike most other public operators in Japan, the company only operates subways without any bus lines....
- Fukuoka City Subway
- nimoca
- NishitetsuNishi-Nippon RailroadThe , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real-estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture. In addition, from 1950 to 1972, the company owned the Lions...
- Nishitetsu
- Mejiron nimocaMejiron Nimocais a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Oita Prefecture, Japan. Oita Bus, Oita Kōtsū and Kamenoi Bus introduced the system on December 26, 2010. Like other electronic fare collection systems in Japan, the card uses FeliCa, RFID technology developed by Sony...
(from December 26, 2010)- Private bus operators in Oita area.
Mobile Suica
Since January 2006, a version called Mobile SuicaMobile Suica
is a service for Osaifu Keitai mobile phones, first launched on January 28, 2006 by NTT DoCoMo and au in Japan, and now also offered by SoftBank Mobile and Willcom. Suica is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card mainly used to pay for fares on the JR East railway network.Just like...
has been incorporated into mobile FeliCa wallet phones by Japan's mobile operators. This system includes Java applications to manage the Suica function in the mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
, to recharge the Suica card stored in the mobile phone, review the stored value and perform other functions via the mobile phone. An enhancement for 2007 will allow for Suica charges to be added directly to the phone bill, eliminating the requirement to constantly add to and monitor the remaining balance.
External links
- http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/development/story/
- http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/