When you visit Japan, you will be surprised to see that cash is still one of major payment methods. Cashless payment is picking up in Japan, but it is not coming as fast as those in Europe, the States and other parts of the world. I presume it is going to be so painful to buy a ticket in cash every time when you use trains and buses. But you have a good solution to buy a transportation card what we call “Suica”. The first thing you must do after the arrival either in Narita or Haneda for the first time is sorting out your mobile phone and arranging “Suica” card to make your life in Japan much easier. In this newsletter I’ll write about this “Suica” to look around and even to shop. Basically, if you charge a certain amount of money, you can move and eat at many places in Japan.
Suica stands for “Super Urban Intelligent Card” and it is using NFC=Near Field Communication technology. And there are three different system such as Type A, Type B and FeliCa. Japanese Suica is applying FeliCa system and FeliCa is a card with high security and versatility. When you go through ticketing gate, you just touch a Suica card to a reader and the gate opens. The reader recognizes the card so quickly in 0.1 sec you just don’t have to stop when you go through the gate.
In this newsletter I will focus on special Suica which is designed for tourists from overseas. The name of Suica is “The Welcome Suica” with special design, term and condition are a little bit different from general green Suica.
You purchase a card and you can choose from 1,000 yen or 2,000 yen at JR East Travel Service Centre or at special Welcome Suica Ticket Vending Machine at Narita or Haneda. In this case you don’t have to pay deposit for the card even though you have to add 500-yen deposit when you are buying a general green Suica. Be aware that the Welcome Suica Ticket is valid for 28 days. Every time you go through the gate, the reader shows you the balance. Please keep that the card has enough balance not to be embarrassed by being blocked with big, alarming sound in front of lots of people.
There are several points that you should keep in your mind when you use it. As I said, it is different from a general green Suica which local Japanese people are using. I will list and hope these will be some of your help.
Topping up your credit: You can top up to a maximum of 20,000 yen at Automatic Ticket Vending Machines and Fare Adjustment Machines displaying the Welcome Suica mark. Seven Bank ATMs at 7-Eleven can be used as well. For this special Suica, only cash in Yen can be used and credit card is not accepted.
Valid area: As long as you are using it within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area you can use it anywhere. The Welcome Suica can be used on other smart card transportation systems, too. But the Welcome Suica cannot be used for continuous travel between areas. The use of transportation begins in one area must be ended in that area. When crossing from one area to another, first leave the ticket gate and then re-enter.
Just in case you lose: Welcome Suica is NOT refundable, however general green Suica is refundable. Malfunction refund is accepted.
When you finish: Unfortunately, NO REFUND IS AVAILABLE, regardless of the validity period status or balance on your card. Make sure to use the remaining balance at a location displaying the Suica logo.
Please refer to the following URL for the details with term and condition.
In Japan, you have more and more cashless payment choices. They can be firstly credit cards, QR codes such as PayPay, and transportation card such as Suica. Apart from using public transport, Suica is one of the ideal choice using local currency without charging on your own credit cards later with service charges. Before getting on a train you can fill up your stomach buying snacks with Suica.
Finally, for those who are visiting Japan several times, you should get a general green Suica which has the validity of 10 years even though you have to pay 500 Yen deposit. You don’t have to buy every time when you arrive in Japan. But be careful about overuse of it since you don’t feel like using your money when you are repeating “Touch and Go”. I hope that you will have a stressless cashless trip in Japan.
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