The IC Card Guide Nobody Tells You About Before Visiting Japan

Whenever friends from abroad tell me they’re coming to Japan, the same question always comes up: “Which card do I get — Suica, PASMO, ICOCA? And what’s this ‘Welcome Suica’ I keep seeing online?”

I work near a major station in Tokyo, and I watch travelers wrestle with this exact decision at the ticket machines every day. The internet makes it sound like a complicated choice with high stakes. It isn’t. I’m Japanese, and I’m going to give you the version I’d tell a friend over coffee — what actually matters, what you can safely ignore, and the one honest catch nobody warns you about.

First, the truth that saves you the most worry: they’re basically the same

Let me take the biggest weight off your shoulders right away.

Suica, PASMO, and ICOCA are essentially the same card. Same purpose, same tap-to-ride, same nationwide network. A Suica bought in Tokyo works on Osaka subways, Kyoto buses, and almost everywhere else — and the reverse is just as true.

So please don’t lose sleep comparing them. Just get whichever one is sold at the first station or airport you reach. As a rough guide, Tokyo tends to offer Suica or PASMO, while Osaka and Kyoto lean toward ICOCA.

The only real difference is administrative: you can only get a refund on a card from the company that issued it. You can’t return a Tokyo Suica at an Osaka counter, or an ICOCA in Tokyo. That’s it. That’s the whole “which brand” question.

What you’ll actually use it for (more than you think)

Here’s why locals tap these cards 10 to 20 times a day without a second thought. It’s not just trains:

• Trains, subways, and buses — tap in, tap out, the fare is calculated automatically
• Convenience stores — 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson all take it at the register
• Vending machines, coin lockers, some taxis, many restaurants — anywhere you see the IC logo

The real value isn’t saving money — the fare discount is only a few yen. It’s removing friction. No fumbling for coins, no buying a paper ticket for every ride. You can top up with cash at any station machine or convenience store, and the maximum balance you can hold is ¥20,000.

The honest catch: the card situation is messier than it used to be

Most guides skip this, but I’d rather be straight with you, because it affects which card you should get.

You may have read that you can just grab a regular Suica anywhere. That’s no longer guaranteed. After a global chip shortage in 2023, JR East suspended sales of regular Suica cards for a long time. As of 2026 they’ve partially come back at major Tokyo stations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, and Ueno — but stock still varies by station, and the official line is still “check before you go.” So don’t build your whole arrival plan around walking up and buying a regular green Suica; it might be there, it might not.

That’s exactly why the Welcome Suica exists — and why, for most short-term visitors, it’s the simplest physical option.

Welcome Suica vs regular Suica — which should you actually get?

Here’s the clear, side-by-side version.

Regular Suica (green, penguin design):

• Requires a ¥500 refundable deposit
• No expiry — valid as long as you use it once within 10 years
• Refundable at any JR East station. You get your balance + ¥500 deposit, minus a ¥220 handling fee. (If your balance is under ¥220, that fee just eats the balance and you still get the ¥500 back.)
• Catch: availability is not guaranteed in 2026

Welcome Suica (red, cherry-blossom design):

• No deposit — your full payment goes straight onto the card
• Expires 28 days after first use
• Balance is non-refundable — whatever’s left when it expires is simply gone
• Easy to find: sold at Narita and Haneda airports and major Tokyo stations, made for tourists

My honest take: for a trip under four weeks, Welcome Suica is the cleaner choice — no refund errand on your way out, and it’s reliably stocked at the airport. Just load conservatively and top up in small amounts, because you can’t get leftover balance back. Spend it down at an airport convenience store before you fly home. If you’re staying longer than 28 days, or you’re the type who’ll be back in Japan within a few years, the regular Suica’s refundable deposit and 10-year life make it the better companion — if you can find one.

One local tip: the airport Welcome Suica counters can have brutal lines right when you land exhausted. If the queue is ugly, it’s often less painful to move on and sort your card at a quieter city station the next day.

The mobile situation (and the Android catch, told straight)

If you have an iPhone, the smoothest 2026 setup is adding Suica to Apple Wallet, or using JR East’s Welcome Suica Mobile app, which runs for 180 days instead of 28 and works on any iPhone no matter where you bought it. No airport line, no deposit, no language stress. (One reminder from my Suica top-up article: a foreign-issued Visa won’t charge it — use a Mastercard or Amex.)

(A quick heads-up before you charge one: a foreign-issued Visa card won’t work for topping up a Suica — but a Mastercard or Amex will. I explain exactly why, and how to avoid getting stuck, in IC Cards and Charging in Japan: What You Should Know Before You Ride the Trains.)

If you have an Android phone bought outside Japan, I’ll be honest so you don’t waste your first day: mobile Suica won’t work. It needs a Japan-specific FeliCa chip that overseas Android models — including international Galaxy and Pixel phones — simply don’t have. Ordinary NFC isn’t enough. Your move is a physical card, full stop.

(There’s light ahead: Samsung has announced wider Suica support on newer phones from around the first half of 2027. But for this trip, plan on a physical card.)

Once your card is sorted, the next hurdle is the routes

A card gets you through the gate. Knowing which gate, which line, and which transfer is the part that still trips people up — and honestly, that’s the reason I built JapanCalc.

It has a plain-language route search and a built-in IC card guide, so you don’t have to keep this whole article in your head while you’re standing in a busy station. It’s the companion I wish my visiting friends had from day one. (JapanCalc)

The 30-second recap

1. Suica, PASMO, ICOCA are interchangeable. Get whichever is in front of you.
2. You can only refund a card where it was issued.
3. Regular Suica is back in 2026, but stock varies — don’t count on it being there.
4. Welcome Suica: no deposit, but expires in 28 days and the balance is non-refundable. Load light.
5. iPhone: Apple Wallet or the Welcome Suica Mobile app (180 days). Overseas Android: physical card only.

Sort this out before your first ride, and you’ll move through the gates like you’ve done it a hundred times.

I’m looking forward to your visit — enjoy Japan.