Suica and IC cards in Tokyo

Which card to get

Suica (JR East) and Pasmo (Metro and the private railways) are interchangeable for a visitor: both work on every train, bus, konbini and vending machine in the Tokyo area, and both work across Japan on the other regional IC networks (Icoca in Osaka, Toica in Nagoya and so on). Get whichever is sold at the station you are standing in.

Regular unregistered cards disappeared during the 2023 chip shortage and came back on sale in March 2025, so you can again buy one at any JR East or Metro ticket machine. You pay ¥1,000 to ¥10,000 at purchase, of which ¥500 is a deposit; the rest is spending balance. It never expires as long as you use it once every ten years.

Welcome Suica is the tourist version: no deposit, sold at Narita, Haneda and the JR East Travel Service Centers in major stations, valid for 28 days, with any leftover balance lost when it expires. There is also a Welcome Suica Mobile app for iPhone, valid 180 days, which gives you a card without a counter visit. If you plan to come back to Japan, a regular card is the better buy.

Phone or plastic

On an iPhone, open Wallet, tap the plus, choose Transit Card and pick Suica or Pasmo. It works on any iPhone regardless of where you bought it, with no Japanese phone number or app required. Top up with Apple Pay; Mastercard and American Express work reliably, some foreign Visa cards do not, so keep a second card on hand. Express Transit mode means you tap without unlocking, and it keeps working for a few hours after the battery dies.

Android is the catch: Mobile Suica needs the FeliCa chip found only in phones sold in Japan. A Pixel or Galaxy bought abroad cannot host a Suica, so Android users should get a physical card.

Physical cards are topped up with cash only, at station machines or the konbini register. Mobile cards are topped up by card, anywhere, in seconds. Both cap at ¥20,000.

Beyond the ticket gate

Tap your card at 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart, at nearly every vending machine, at coin lockers, in most taxis, at chain restaurants and cafés, and at many museum shops. It is the easiest way to avoid a pocket full of coins. What it does not cover: the shinkansen (you need a separate ticket, or a Smart EX or Touch-and-Go registration), most small independent restaurants, and long-distance limited express trains without a reserved seat ticket.

Children aged 6 to 11 pay half fares and need a child card, issued at a staffed counter on showing a passport. Under 6 ride free.

Refunds and lost cards

A regular Suica is refunded at any JR East ticket office: you get the ¥500 deposit plus the balance minus a ¥220 handling fee. If the balance is under ¥220, you only get the deposit back. Pasmo is refunded at Metro and private railway counters, currently without a fee. Welcome Suica cannot be refunded, so spend it down at a konbini on your last day.

Unregistered physical cards are like cash: lost means gone. A Suica in Apple Wallet can be suspended and reissued from the Suica app, which is one more argument for going mobile if you can. If your balance is stuck below the fare at an exit gate, the fare adjustment machine takes cash and sorts it out.