The short answer
- Tap in and tap out at the gates. The fare is taken automatically.
- Any major IC card works almost everywhere in urban Japan, so Suica and Pasmo are interchangeable.
- Visitors can use Welcome Suica, or add a Suica or Pasmo to an iPhone wallet.
- Keep a little cash for rural trains and buses that do not take IC cards.
Which card to get
Ten regional cards, including Suica and Pasmo around Tokyo and ICOCA around Osaka, share one system. A card bought in one region works in the others, so choose the one that is easiest to get. Pasmo and Suica are the same for a visitor in Tokyo.
Visitors have three options. A standard physical Suica or Pasmo costs a ¥500 deposit that you get back when you return it. Welcome Suica is a card with no deposit for visitors, valid for a short period and not refundable. A Suica or Pasmo can also be added to an iPhone Apple Wallet, which many people find simplest. Support for Android phones is more limited, so check before you rely on it.
Sales of physical Suica and Pasmo cards were suspended in 2023 because of a chip shortage and resumed in March 2025. Availability and the types on offer can change, so check the JR East or Pasmo website for what is sold when you arrive.
How to use it
Touch the card to the reader as you enter the ticket gate and again as you leave. The fare is deducted when you leave. You need enough balance to leave, and a gate will stop you if you are short. There is a fare adjustment machine nearby to top up.
Add money at a ticket machine with cash, in steps of ¥1,000 and so on, or with your phone. The card can also pay in convenience stores, vending machines, coin lockers and many restaurants. Look for the IC logo.
Where it does not work
An IC card is not a ticket for the shinkansen or for limited express trains with a separate fee. Buy that ticket and keep your IC card for the local trains at either end. Some rural lines and local buses outside the big regions also do not accept IC cards, so carry cash.
When you leave Japan you can return a physical Suica at a JR East ticket office and get back the deposit and the remaining balance, less a small handling fee. Welcome Suica cannot be refunded, so top it up in small amounts.
Good to know
- Top up in small amounts if you have Welcome Suica, since it cannot be refunded.
- IC fares can be a yen or two cheaper than paper tickets on some routes.
- Keep your IC card in a pass holder away from other cards so that the gate reads it properly.
Words you will see
- チャージ chāji
- top up
- 残額 zangaku
- remaining balance
- 改札 kaisatsu
- ticket gate
- 精算機 seisanki
- fare adjustment machine
- 払い戻し haraimodoshi
- refund
See also
Based on information from JR East, Pasmo and other IC card operators. Fares and rules checked in November 2026. They change, so confirm current prices with the operator before you buy. Prices are rounded and given in yen. Rules differ between railway companies and regions.