Pasmo/Suica cards

5 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Pasmo/Suica cards**

   How essential is it to get one of these cards? I’ll be in Japan in about 2 weeks for a year. I’ve seen a lot of posts about them recently (and also how they’re not producing any physical cards anymore) and Im just wondering about their necessity. Thanks.

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2. They’re not a necessity, just an extremely nice quality of life if you take public transportation often.

3. I use one because I (illegally) let my wife use it when I’m working from home.
   When my wife is not being a criminal she uses the app on her iPhone.
   My kids have the cards because apparently that’s the only way to get the child rate. I haven’t looked into whether or not they could get kid rates on their smartphones.

4. I’d say for public transit they are quite essential. Since Pasmo/Suica are not being distributed normally right now *and* you’ll be in Japan for a year, why not travel to Tohoku or somewhere to buy an alternative card there?
   Or since you are there a year, I guess you’ll be a student or on an internship? Then you’d be able to purchase a commuter pass: You get a 3 month or smth pass stamped on a Suica card, these are still being distributed. It’s a normal Suica, just with a stamp all over it.

5. I don’t know a single person here without one, theres really no reason not to get one, even if you don’t take public transport much (which i bet you will end up using a lot) it’s just good to have. I don’t know about the situation regarding them in Tokyo but you can still get them in other cities. If you have an iphone you can set them up using Apple Pay if you want too