Which IC card to carry in Japan, and which one is gone
Paymentsthe shortage ended in March 2025
Reviewed on 2026-10-12. This information expires: confirm it close to your travel dates.
Compatibility is what it has always been. Since March 2013 the ten cards in the nationwide mutual use agreement, Suica, PASMO, Kitaca, TOICA, manaca, ICOCA, PiTaPa, SUGOCA, nimoca and Hayakaken, work on each other's networks among participating operators and in any shop showing the IC logo. Only the name on the plastic changes with the issuer. PiTaPa, being postpay, is left out of several uses as electronic money.
What changed is availability, in the opposite direction to what most pages still say. JR East and the PASMO Council stopped selling unregistered cards on 8 June 2023 and registered ones on 2 August 2023, blaming the worldwide semiconductor shortage. Registered cards came back on 1 September 2024 and unregistered ones, the kind a visitor wants, on 1 March 2025, announced on 18 February. The scarcity is over.
The visitor cards are where the movement is. PASMO PASSPORT stopped being sold in 2024 and its successor, TOURIST PASMO, was announced on 17 April 2026 and goes on sale in May at the Narita and Haneda airport stations: 28 days from issue, no deposit, 2.000¥ at Narita and 1.000¥ to 10.000¥ at Haneda. The plastic Welcome Suica is unchanged at 28 days with no deposit, and since 6 March 2025 there is Welcome Suica Mobile, iPhone only, valid 180 days.
What it means for your trip
It comes down to whether you want money back at the end. A plain Suica or PASMO carries a 500¥ deposit inside the price, holds up to 20.000¥ and, handed back at a window of the issuing company, returns the deposit plus any remaining balance minus a 220¥ fee; if the balance will not cover that fee, you still get the deposit. The visitor cards refund nothing, but then you paid no deposit.
The iPhone and Android split is wide, and almost nobody explains it properly. On iPhone you do not need a Japanese handset: Apple allows Suica in Wallet from the iPhone 7, and PASMO, ICOCA and TOICA from the iPhone 8. An Apple Watch Series 2 has to have been bought in Japan. On Android the phone must support Osaifu-Keitai, meaning the Japanese FeliCa chip, which phones sold outside Japan almost never have. Galaxy models from 2027 will manage it, per JR East and Samsung on 21 April 2026.
Topping up splits the same way: on iPhone you use the card registered in Apple Pay, while at station machines JR East states that Suica top-ups are cash. Two limits have nothing to do with money: no single journey may cross from one company-defined area into another, and limited express trains and green cars need separate tickets. Some places have dropped the cards outright, too: five bus operators in Kumamoto and the Kumamoto Dentetsu railway stopped accepting them on 16 November 2024, though the city tram keeps them.
Questions
Can you buy a plain Suica or PASMO again?
Yes. Since 1 March 2025 unregistered Suica, Rinkai Suica and PASMO are back on sale at machines and windows of participating operators. Registered cards returned on 1 September 2024. Any page telling you cards are scarce is stuck in 2023.
Do I get the 500¥ deposit back?
With a plain Suica or PASMO, yes: a window of the issuing company gives you the deposit plus any remaining balance minus a 220¥ fee. With Welcome Suica and TOURIST PASMO there is nothing to refund, since you paid no deposit.
Can I put Suica on my phone?
On an iPhone 7 or later, yes, and it need not be Japanese. On Android the handset must support Osaifu-Keitai, which in practice means a model sold in Japan. Galaxy phones will manage it from 2027.
Can I top up with a foreign card?
On the phone yes, with the card registered in Apple Pay, and Welcome Suica Mobile is built for visitors. At station machines no: JR East states that Suica top-ups are made in cash, so land with some yen.
Does an IC card work on the Shinkansen?
Not as stored value. The exception is Touch de Go on JR East lines, non-reserved seats only, with combinations blocked when crossing Morioka or Fukushima. Tokyo to Kyoto on the Tokaido Shinkansen needs a ticket.
Can I pay in shops, and how much does it hold?
Yes, anywhere showing the IC logo: convenience stores, supermarkets, cafés, luggage lockers and many vending machines. The ceiling is 20.000¥. JR East is adding a code payment in autumn 2026 with a 300.000¥ ceiling, but that is a separate system.
What is still unclear
PASMO announced TOURIST PASMO for May 2026 without naming a day, so check at the airport station on arrival. Nor is it clear which foreign card brands the Apple Pay top-up accepts: JR East publishes no list.
Build your route with this already factored in
The planner accounts for these changes where they matter: the JR Pass comparison uses current prices, and the cost summary includes the taxes you will actually run into.
Open the planner