Suica, Welcome Suica & IC Cards in Japan: The 2026 Tourist Guide

The question I get more than any other from friends flying into Japan is not about temples or ramen. It is “where do I buy a Suica?” For years the answer involved queueing at a station counter. In 2026 it mostly does not, and the honest reply has become: if you own an iPhone, you probably do not need to buy anything at all. This guide sets out what actually changed, what the ten IC cards really are, and the one rule — the area rule — that catches out more travellers than everything else combined.

Last updated: July 2026 | Author: Yuu (Nagoya-born, 35-year resident)

This article may contain affiliate links. See our affiliate disclosure for details.

---

Table of Contents

1. The 60-Second Answer: Which One Should You Get?
2. How Japan’s IC Cards Work — and the Area-Crossing Trap
3. iPhone and Apple Watch: Welcome Suica Mobile Is the Fastest Route
4. Android: Osaifu-Keitai (FeliCa) Support Is the Official Requirement
5. Buying a Physical Card: Welcome Suica, and Regular Suica or PASMO
6. Using One in Nagoya: manaca, TOICA and the Discounts You Lose
7. Topping Up and Using It: Where, How Much, and What For
8. Refunds and Expiry: What to Do Before You Fly Home
9. Frequently Asked Questions
10. About the Author
11. Related Guides

---

The 60-Second Answer: Which One Should You Get?

Here is the verdict table first.

And there is one rule that matters to everyone, whatever device you carry.

A single IC card works all over Japan — but it will not carry you across area boundaries.

That contradiction is the single most misunderstood thing about Japan’s IC cards. The next section explains it properly.

The Operators Themselves Are Telling You to Go Mobile

Preferring mobile is not this site’s private opinion. In a joint release, JR East, the PASMO Association and Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit tell anyone starting to use Suica or PASMO to use Mobile Suica or PASMO on a phone, which require no ¥500 deposit [Source]. This guide is ordered the same way: mobile first, physical card as the fallback.

---

How Japan’s IC Cards Work — and the Area-Crossing Trap

Nationwide Mutual Use: Ten Cards Are Covered

Japan has regional IC cards issued by different companies, and ten of them belong to the “Nationwide Mutual Use Service” for transport IC cards. Hold any one of them and you can use it on trains, buses and at participating shops inside each service area [Source].

There is only one thing a traveller needs to remember here: for your purposes, those ten cards are effectively the same product. Whichever one you buy, it works anywhere in Japan on trains, buses, shops and vending machines that display the nationwide mutual use symbol [Source]. That covers entering and exiting through automatic ticket gates, boarding and alighting using the on-board bus readers, topping up at ticket vending machines and similar devices (some machines excepted), buying tickets, and displaying or printing your usage history [Source].

One exception. PiTaPa is not part of the nationwide mutual use scheme for e-money, so Suica and the rest cannot be used at shops in the PiTaPa area [Source] [Source]. Mutual use on the transport side is unaffected, so this rarely causes a visitor any trouble.

The Biggest Trap: You Cannot Use It Across Areas

“Except for travel within a commuter pass section, you cannot ride beyond the boundary of an area or travel across different areas.”
— JR Central, TOICA official [Source]

“Usable all over Japan” and “will take you anywhere in Japan” are two completely different statements.

• Works: riding the Nagoya subway on a Suica
• Works: riding the Tokyo subway on a manaca
• Does not work: tapping in at a conventional-line gate at Nagoya Station and tapping out at a conventional-line gate at Tokyo Station

The reason is that the Nagoya region sits in the TOICA area and the Tokyo region sits in the Suica area, and those are separate areas. Journeys that begin and end inside one area are fine on IC; journeys that cross an area boundary need a ticket. That is the whole rule.

The exceptions are the Suica and PASMO areas in the Tokyo metropolitan region, and part of the SUGOCA and Hayakaken areas in Kyushu (the through-service sections) [Source]. That is why changing between the subway and JR in Tokyo never causes a problem.

What to Actually Do About It

For long-distance travel — Nagoya to Tokyo, Tokyo to Osaka and so on — you buy a ticket rather than tapping an IC card. Split the roles in your head: the IC card is the tool for moving around inside a city, and a ticket is the tool for moving between cities. Do that and the confusion disappears. A separate guide to how to buy Shinkansen tickets is coming soon.

---

iPhone and Apple Watch: Welcome Suica Mobile Is the Fastest Route

If you carry an iPhone or an Apple Watch, this is the quickest and least fiddly route available.

What Welcome Suica Mobile Is

It is an iOS-only app from JR East, and you can both issue and top up a Suica entirely within the app [Source]. The publisher is East Japan Railway Company itself [Source].

Sources: [Source] / [Source]

The app interface is in English only. There is no Japanese, Chinese, Korean or other language version.

Issuing It Takes Four Steps

This is the procedure JR East sets out officially [Source].

1. Download the app before your trip
2. Agree to the terms of use
3. Set a secret keyword (used if you ever need to make an enquiry)
4. Turn location services on (used to determine whether you are allowed to top up)

Once issued, that Suica is valid for 180 days.

The app will not work unless location services are on. This is a requirement, not an option [Source].

You Cannot Assume You Will Be Able to Set It Up Before You Fly

This is the point other sites tend to leave out. JR East states that even with location services on, issuing and topping up a Suica may be restricted in some countries, and in that case you should try again after entering Japan [Source]. Another JR East page says explicitly that in some countries, downloading the app or using the top-up function is restricted by law [Source].

In other words, depending on where you live, setup before departure may simply not complete. Do not treat “I’ll set it up before I fly and then relax” as a certainty, and do not panic if it fails. Trying again after you arrive will work.

Topping Up Uses Your Apple Pay Card

Welcome Suica Mobile is topped up with a credit card already registered in Apple Pay [Source]. There is no separate card registration inside the app.

If your card is declined, cash top-ups at stations and convenience stores are the sure thing. Japan has an unusually dense network of places to add cash, so a card that will not go through is never a dead end.

What It Does Besides Ticket Gates

Welcome Suica Mobile is not just an IC card for gates. You can tap the app to board non-reserved Shinkansen seats within the JR East area, buy Green Car tickets for local trains, and reserve seats on Shinkansen services, the Narita Express and others through JR-EAST Train Reservation, paying by credit card [Source].

Note: this feature list reflects JR East’s official information as of March 2026.

How It Differs From the Regular “Mobile Suica” App (Important)

Japan also has a separate Mobile Suica app aimed at residents. It carries a restriction that is decisive for visitors.

“As a rule, credit cards issued outside Japan, and prepaid cards and the like, cannot be registered.”
— JR East, Mobile Suica official [Source]

The list of accepted brands is broad in itself — JCB, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and others [Source] — but even where the brand is supported, the “overseas-issued cards not accepted as a rule” clause takes precedence. There is essentially no intended route for a visitor to register their own card directly in that app.

There is also Suica in Apple Pay for Apple devices, where setting a card as your “Express Card” lets you pass through automatic gates without Face ID or Touch ID authentication [Source]. However, whether an overseas-issued card can top up via that route is not stated officially, so this guide does not assert either way. Starting with Welcome Suica Mobile, where the official documentation does say top-ups run on your Apple Pay card, is the certain path.

Issuing and topping up in the app both need an internet connection, obviously enough. Having data working from the moment you step off the plane means you can get all the way through issuing your Suica while you are still in the arrivals hall. How to choose an eSIM that works in Japan is covered in our Japan eSIM, SIM and pocket Wi-Fi guide.

---

Android: Osaifu-Keitai (FeliCa) Support Is the Official Requirement

If you are on Android, there is one thing to check first.

The Official Requirement Is “Obtain and Link the Osaifu-Keitai App”

“To use Mobile Suica on an Android device, you need to obtain and link the Osaifu-Keitai app.”
— JR East, Mobile Suica FAQ [Source]

Osaifu-Keitai is a function available on handsets that support FeliCa, the contactless IC standard used in Japan. That single point is the whole requirement.

Check your own handset against JR East’s compatible-device list before you travel [Source]. Proceeding on “it’ll probably be fine” is how people end up stuck after they land. If your model is not on the list, buying a physical card is the faster answer.

Note: this guide does not make sweeping claims such as “Android phones sold overseas won’t work.” The only thing JR East publishes officially is the compatible-device list; there is no official document showing FeliCa fitment rates by region.

If It Is Supported: You Can Issue a Suica From the Google Wallet App

On a supported handset, you can issue a brand-new Suica from the Google Wallet app without owning a Suica card at all.

Source: [Source]

A Suica in the Google Wallet app can be topped up in increments of ¥1. On the other hand, refunds and account closure cannot be handled in the Google Wallet app and require the Mobile Suica app [Source].

Why Cash Top-Ups Matter So Much for Android Users

Registering an overseas-issued credit card in the Mobile Suica app is “as a rule not possible” [Source]. You should also allow for the possibility that a card registered in Google Pay fails to complete a top-up.

The reliable escape route is cash. Both a Suica in the Google Wallet app and a Suica in the Mobile Suica app support cash top-ups at convenience stores, top-up machines and similar [Source]. Japan has countless places to add cash — station ticket machines, convenience store tills, Seven Bank ATMs — so “if the card is declined, use cash” always solves it.

Note: Welcome Suica Mobile is iOS-only and there is no Android version [Source]. That is why the process differs so much between iPhone and Android.

---

Buying a Physical Card: Welcome Suica, and Regular Suica or PASMO

If you would rather not use a smartphone, or your handset is not supported, you buy a physical card.

First, the Premise: In 2026 You Can Buy Cards

English-language Japan travel guides still exist that say Suica and PASMO cards cannot be bought because of the semiconductor shortage. That information is out of date.

Sources: [Source] / [Source]

What visitors mostly use is the unregistered type, which carries no name, so the March 1, 2025 resumption is the one that really reopened the door. Note also that PASMO PASSPORT, the IC travel card for overseas visitors, has been discontinued [Source]. Some sites still recommend it, but it can no longer be bought.

Welcome Suica (For Short-Term Visitors)

This is the card JR East sells to inbound travellers.

Source: [Source]

The full sale price becomes your stored value — no deposit is deducted [Source].

The “¥1,500” figure you may see elsewhere is wrong. Some online travel agency blogs list ¥1,500 as the price of a Welcome Suica. JR East’s official sale prices are the six options ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥4,000, ¥5,000 and ¥10,000. Always confirm card specifications against the official source.

Two Traps in the Welcome Suica

Trap 1: you do not get a single yen of the balance back.

“Regardless of the validity period or whether any balance remains, the stored value on a Welcome Suica cannot be refunded (please keep the Welcome Suica card as a souvenir).”
— JR East official [Source]

Load only what you will actually spend. Buy the ¥10,000 version and use ¥3,000 of it, and ¥7,000 simply evaporates. Buying small and topping up when you run low is the safe pattern.

Trap 2: the expiry date is not printed on the card.

No expiry date appears on the card face, and the “GOOD THRU” on the reverse is not an expiry date either. You check the expiry and the balance using the Reference Paper handed to you at purchase. Carry it at all times and present it if a member of staff asks for it. If you lose it, it can be reprinted at ticket vending machines and multifunction ticket vending machines inside the Suica area, or by station staff [Source].

Where to Buy One (From March 27, 2025)

Source: [Source]

Every outlet is in the Tokyo region (plus Sendai). You cannot buy one at Chubu Centrair International Airport or at Kansai Airport. If you are flying straight into Nagoya, skip to the manaca and TOICA section below.

Counter opening hours and stock levels are not published officially. If you land on a late-night flight, the counter may well be closed. Do not assume you can buy one the moment you arrive. This is one more reason we point iPhone users at the app.

Two Things Worth Knowing

1. You can load discount tickets onto it. The NONBIRI Holiday Suica Pass, the Tokyo Metropolitan District Pass (Tokunai Pass), the Yokohama-Minatomirai Pass and the Tokyo 1-Day Ticket can all be recorded on a Welcome Suica and used [Source].

2. The “6-month version” is not available to individuals. A card called Welcome Suica (long-term), valid for up to six months, does exist, but it is sold in bulk only and is not available at counters [Source]. It is aimed at travel companies and other groups, and an individual turning up at a counter cannot buy one.

(The conditions for a children’s Welcome Suica are covered in the FAQ below.)

Regular Suica (For Stays Longer Than 28 Days)

If your stay runs beyond four weeks, or you expect to be back soon, a regular Suica suits you better.

Sources: [Source] / [Source] / [Source]

A Suica keeps until your next trip to Japan. If you know you are coming back, think of the ¥500 deposit as a storage fee for next time — and it is a cheap one.

---

Using One in Nagoya: manaca, TOICA and the Discounts You Lose

From here on this is local information for people visiting Nagoya — the part that nationwide Suica articles leave out.

The Verdict: Most Visitors Should Just Keep Using Suica — With One Exception

The Nagoya City Subway and city buses accept other operators’ transport IC cards, Suica included [Source]. The cards covered are Kitaca, PASMO, Suica, TOICA, PiTaPa, ICOCA, Hayakaken, nimoca and SUGOCA. But there is a catch.

“Using another company’s card on city buses, the subway or elsewhere in the manaca area does not make you eligible for manaca mileage points or transfer discounts.”
— Nagoya City Transportation Bureau official [Source]

Nagoya’s public transport has two preferential schemes: a transfer discount when you change between the subway and a city bus, and manaca mileage points awarded in proportion to how much you spend. Travel on a Suica and neither of them applies.

manaca Basics

manaca is issued by two companies: Nagoya Kotsu Kaihatsu Kiko Co., Ltd. (in the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau group) and MIC Co., Ltd. (in the Meitetsu group) [Source]. The issuer makes no difference to travel on trains and buses, the commuter pass function or shopping [Source], so a visitor can buy either.

Sources: [Source] / [Source] / [Source]

A manaca also works as e-money at nationwide mutual use merchants (Kitaca, PASMO, Suica, TOICA, ICOCA, Hayakaken, nimoca and SUGOCA) [Source]. Buying one in Nagoya and shopping with it in Tokyo is no problem at all.

The Big manaca Caveat: You Can Only Get a Refund in the Nagoya Region

“Sales, re-issue registration, re-issue and refunds for manaca cannot be handled in other areas.”
— Nagoya City Transportation Bureau official [Source]

JR East states from its side too that cards issued by other operators, manaca included, cannot be refunded by JR East [Source].

This has a direct bearing on how you plan your route. On an itinerary like Nagoya to Tokyo and then home from Narita, a manaca bought in Nagoya cannot be handed back in Tokyo. Neither the ¥500 deposit nor the remaining balance comes back. Unless Nagoya is your last stop, either avoid a manaca or keep the loaded balance low enough that you would not mind writing the refund off.

The refund amount is the card balance minus a ¥220 handling fee, plus the ¥500 deposit (a commuter pass portion is handled separately at ¥520) [Source] [Source].

TOICA (JR Central)

TOICA is JR Central’s IC card, used on the JR conventional lines at Nagoya Station and on JR lines across the Tokai region.

Sources: [Source] / [Source]

For getting around Nagoya itself, our Getting Around Nagoya guide covers the city’s transport including manaca in detail. For the journey in from Chubu Centrair International Airport, see our Centrair Airport to city guide.

---

Topping Up and Using It: Where, How Much, and What For

Where You Can Add Cash

At stations you can top up with cash at ticket vending machines, multifunction ticket vending machines and fare adjustment machines. A single operation lets you add one of six amounts — ¥500, ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000 — and you can repeat this as often as you like up to the ¥20,000 ceiling [Source].

Convenience stores work too. NewDays, 7-Eleven, Daily Yamazaki, FamilyMart, Ministop, Lawson, AEON and others (some branches excepted) [Source]. The Seven Bank ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores also handle top-ups [Source]. Convenience stores are everywhere in Japan and many are open 24 hours. You can run this as casually as topping up at the next store you happen to walk past whenever the balance starts to worry you.

What You Cannot Do (The Easy Misunderstandings)

Sources: [Source] / [Source]

You cannot pay for a Shinkansen ticket out of your IC card balance. This is the single most common misconception among visitors. Buy tickets separately with cash or a credit card.

Auto-charge is not available to visitors either. It is a convenient feature that tops you up automatically as the balance falls, but it only operates with a VIEW CARD (a JR East group credit card) [Source]. A VIEW CARD is issued after screening in Japan, so short-term visitors effectively cannot use it. Auto-charge itself is also limited to the PASMO area and parts of the Suica area [Source]. Top up manually and do it often.

Where They Work Besides Transport

IC cards double as e-money. That covers on-board sales on trains, vending machines, coin lockers, convenience stores and restaurants [Source]. Coin lockers are especially handy. Most lockers at major stations are IC-compatible, so you can stow your luggage without hunting for coins and retrieve it by tapping the same card.

Where You Can Ride, and What to Do If You Run Short

The areas where a Suica can be used to ride include railways, subways and buses in the Tokyo metropolitan region, the Tokyo Monorail linking Haneda Airport with the capital, the Sendai, Niigata, Aomori, Morioka and Akita areas, and parts of the Hokkaido, Tokai, West Japan and Kyushu areas. If you are taking a limited express, an express or a Green Car, buy the appropriate ticket in advance [Source].

If the gate rejects you for insufficient balance, top up and settle at a fare adjustment machine and you can walk straight through [Source]. Most of those machines have multilingual displays.

---

Refunds and Expiry: What to Do Before You Fly Home

The Verdict by Card Type

Sources: [Source] / [Source] / [Source] / [Source] / [Source]

How the Refund on a Regular Suica Is Calculated

You are refunded the stored balance minus a ¥220 handling fee, plus the ¥500 deposit. If the balance is ¥220 or less, only the deposit is returned [Source].

Source: [Source]

How to Avoid Paying the ¥220 Fee

There is a loophole in that formula. If the balance is ¥220 or less, no fee is taken and the whole ¥500 deposit comes back. In other words, spend the balance down as far as you can before you fly home, claim the refund, and you keep ¥220 and still get ¥500 back. Buying a drink or a souvenir at an airport convenience store to fine-tune the balance is the classic way to empty it.

Where You Can Claim a Refund

You do it at a Midori-no-madoguchi ticket office at a JR East station inside the Suica area, or at a Midori-no-madoguchi at a JR East Shinkansen station, among others. Refunds cannot be handled at non-JR East stations or bus depots, and stations with only partial Suica support cannot handle them either [Source]. Cards issued by other companies (PASMO, Kitaca, TOICA, manaca, ICOCA, PiTaPa, SUGOCA, nimoca, Hayakaken and so on) also cannot be refunded by JR East; go to a counter run by the company that issued the card [Source].

We could not confirm clear official guidance on whether airport stations have a Midori-no-madoguchi. Rather than counting on “I’ll hand it back at the airport”, it is better to allow yourself time and do it at a major station the day before you leave.

Note also that refunding a “My Suica (registered)” card or a Suica commuter pass requires official photo identification such as a driving licence [Source]. With the unregistered cards visitors normally use, that step does not arise.

The Option of Simply Not Claiming a Refund

A Suica does not expire for 10 years, counted from the day after it was last used (travel on non-JR East railways, top-ups and shopping all count as “use”) [Source]. If you expect to come back to Japan, leaving a little balance on it and taking it home is the sensible move. Next time it works from the moment you land.

Note: even before it expires, a card that has gone unused for a long period may stop working at the ticket gates. If that happens, speak to a JR East member of staff at the gate [Source]. This 10-year rule is a Suica provision; we could not confirm the expiry rules for manaca and TOICA on their official sites, so this guide does not cover them.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there IC cards for children? Up to what age can they be used?

Yes. A children’s Welcome Suica can be used until the first March 31 on or after the day the child turns 12, and identification for the child themselves, such as a passport, is required at purchase. A family member may buy it on the child’s behalf, and at the dedicated vending machines you enter the date of birth yourself [Source]. Nagoya’s child manaca likewise runs until March 31 of the school year in which the child turns 12, and official identification for the child (a health insurance card, a passport and so on) is required [Source]. Note that Welcome Suica Mobile is limited to users aged 13 and over, so if you are travelling with younger children a physical card is the answer [Source].

Can I ride the Shinkansen with a Suica?

As a rule, an IC card does not serve as a Shinkansen ticket. When you take a limited express, an express or a Green Car, you need the appropriate ticket bought in advance [Source]. On top of that, your stored balance cannot be used to buy tickets at a Midori-no-madoguchi [Source]. The exception is Welcome Suica Mobile, which lets you tap the app to board non-reserved Shinkansen seats within the JR East area [Source].

Can I travel from Nagoya to Tokyo on a single IC card?

Not on the conventional lines. The Nagoya region sits in the TOICA area and the Tokyo region sits in the Suica area — separate areas — and travel across areas is not permitted. The only crossings that do work are the Suica and PASMO areas in the Tokyo metropolitan region, and part of the SUGOCA and Hayakaken areas in Kyushu (the through-service sections) [Source].

What do I do if my balance runs short at the ticket gate?

Top up and settle at a fare adjustment machine and you can go straight out [Source]. Most have multilingual displays. The balance ceiling is ¥20,000, so if it worries you, you can simply load more up front [Source].

Can I top up with an overseas-issued credit card?

It depends on the route. Only two things are stated officially. First, credit cards issued outside Japan, and prepaid cards and the like, cannot as a rule be registered in the Mobile Suica app [Source]. Second, Welcome Suica Mobile can be topped up with a credit card already registered in Apple Pay [Source] (subject to legal restrictions in some countries [Source]). Try Welcome Suica Mobile first, and if that does not go through, cash top-ups at stations and convenience stores are the certain option. The physical Welcome Suica takes Japanese yen in cash only [Source].

Can I buy cards for my whole family at once?

Welcome Suica is sold, as a rule, one card per person. However, a family member may buy a children’s card on the child’s behalf (identification for the child is required) [Source]. Note too that the balance cannot be transferred between two Suica cards [Source].

Can I keep the card until my next trip to Japan?

A regular Suica, yes. Counted from the day after it was last used, it does not expire for 10 years [Source]. By contrast, the physical Welcome Suica stops working 28 days from the purchase date and Welcome Suica Mobile 180 days from issue, and neither refunds the remaining balance [Source] [Source]. If you know you are coming back, a regular Suica is worth the ¥500 deposit.

---

About the Author

Yuu was born in Nagoya and has lived here for 35 years. He spent a month backpacking around New York during university and has since traveled to more than 15 countries. The question friends flying into Japan ask him every single time is “where do I buy a Suica?” As of 2026 the honest answer is: if you have an iPhone, the app handles it — you do not need to buy one.

---

Related Guides

• Japan eSIM, SIM and Pocket Wi-Fi Guide — for getting your arrival setup done in one go
• Getting Around Nagoya — the subway, Meitetsu, buses and manaca in detail
• Centrair Airport to Nagoya City Guide — how to get in from Chubu Centrair International Airport
• Is the Japan Rail Pass Worth It? — the break-even maths on the nationwide pass
• How to Book Shinkansen Tickets — coming soon

— Yuu

---