JJapan Trips

Help with Using trains in tokyo

So my wife has a suica app on her iPhone and it’s really simple to operate. Me, however, have an Android that wouldn’t support the suica app (apparently, ANY non-japanese wouldn’t support it) I’ve been buying paper tickets individually which is annoying but the most annoying part is having to switch trains , you have to find the right exit and than find the right vending machine to buy a new ticket..
Is there a way to bypass this issue? It appears that physical Suica card is not available everywhere
Can’t you just use credit card??

26 comments

  1. Hi!

    Assuming you are in Tokyo…

    [https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/](https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/)

    Go to one of the subway stations that offer a Pasmo Passport. Buy a Pasmo Passport. Use it. Make sure there is no money left on it when you leave Japan, as it is only good for 28 days.

    Pasmo is just a Metro branded IC Card (Suica is a JR East branded IC card.) Regular Suica and Pasmo are not being offered at this time, but there are special tourist Suica and Pasmo cards being offered which last for 28 days. The Suica one must be bought at Haneda or Narita. Since you are in Tokyo, just get the Pasmo Passport.

  3. You can get Pasmo Passport in theory from different station list of locations here [https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/](https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/)

    Or get a Toica from the JR Central ticket office of Shinagawa station or Tokyo Station.

    There is no other option for you than to get a physical IC card.

  4. Your only option is paper tickets or head to Haneda and get. Welcome Suica or Pasmo for yourself. The Welcomr Suica is for only available at airports and it expires in 28 days. I’d do it at the end of one of your days just to knock it out so you don’t waste your time.

    JR East Counter can help. They have Welcome Suica card vending machines in terminal 2 and 3.

  6. You needed to get the tourist IC Card at the airport before you left there 🙁 I’ve heard of stories from people that got the Welcome Suica and also Pasmo Passport from certain train stations but I honestly don’t know which ones, I would just suggest asking at any big station to see if they have those available.

  8. I have never seen a situation where a physical suica or pasmo card dosent work. Why are you buying paper tickets?

  11. I bought myself a cheap battered iPhone 10 before I left just for suica payments. I have a galaxy s22 so it won’t work on that.

  12. Unfortunately not. You can check at every train station you pass through, but I didn’t have any luck finding a physical Suica card. I had to struggle with the paper tickets until I went to Kyoto where I was able to easily purchase an ICOCA card. It made my life soooo much better

  14. Landed yesterday at haneda. The line to get the welcome suica card was long asf. Line to get pasmo was 5 mins.

  16. What is the difference between Suica and Pasemo? I am curious as to why the line for the Suica card was longer.

  17. Ran into exact same issue 10 days ago.

    What worked for us – we bought a day pass on day 1 at the Yurikamome station ticket vending machine. We were able to continue recharging that same card (it had Pasmo written on it) for the rest of the trip and used it all over in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima for trains, buses and convenience stores.

    I wonder if a day pass bought from any other station would work the same way. If not Yurikamome (it’s right next to Shimbashi) is a much shorter trip than probably going back to the airport.

  18. I haven’t seen this mentioned yet… does your wife by chance have an Apple Watch? This is how we navigated the issue where for some reason my wife’s iPhone wouldn’t process the purchase of the Suica card.

    So I bought one on my iPhone and a second on my Apple Watch. They were two separate Suica cards with their own balances. I’d just hand my wife my phone whenever we scanned in and out.

  20. If if tokyo, go to tokyo station. On the yaesu entrance need to find the shinkansen ticket office that has a blue sign that says “toica”. You should be able to get an ic card from them

  21. Where are you in Tokyo? We are leaving today and no longer need our welcome suica cards. Unfortunately we are leaving for the airport in about 1 hour so not sure if picking up would be feasible for you

  22. You’ve got several options and they are all compatible with each other:

    (1) Pasmo passport. You get these at various metro stations (ie Not JR stations) around Tokyo. This is also a 28 day tourist card, like welcome suica https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/

    (2) Toica. Limited to Tokyo and Shinagawa stations only. It’s actually Nagoya’s IC card but it’s available in Tokyo because JR central jointly runs that section of Shinkansen line. https://toica.jr-central.co.jp/counter/index.html

    (3) Another IC card when you get to a different region of Japan. Icoca in Osaka/Kyoto, Manaca or Toica in Nagoya, Kitaca in Hokkaido etc. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html

  25. Download klook app and you can purchase the welcome suica card. They have instructions on where to redeem it (ie. Major train stations).

    The app also has other deals for you during your stay including airport pickup and drop off.

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