Would you like to know how to buy a Suica card in Japan? It took us three visits to Japan to finally buy our Suica IC cards. To be honest, for some reason I thought the process of buying the card will be more complicated. Ha! I couldn’t be more wrong.
What is Suica?
It’s a prepaid, rechargeable, IC card which can be used to pay fares on public transportation (bus/train/metro – like Myki, GoCard or Opal in Australia) or to pay for goods at a large number of shops, restaurants and vending machines. There are many operators issuing IC cards across Japan – Suica is issued by JR East but can be used country-wide.
Why should you buy one?
For convenience! It takes less than 30 seconds to purchase a new card and saves you time later on – you don’t have to buy paper tickets every time you use the metro, train or bus. And also, you don’t have to worry which ticket you need to buy as the fare is automatically deducted from your Suica.
Buying a Suica card is very easy
Look for pink machines marked “Suica | Buy a new Suica/Charge“. You don’t need to know Japanese, all the instructions are available in English.
Here’s a quick video of me buying a Suica card:
Pre-order your IC card
You can also pre-order your IC card. For Narita Airport, Haneda Airport, Shinjuku, Harajuku or Osaka Airport pick up pre-order Suica here. For Osaka Airport or Osaka City Air Terminal pick up pre-order ICOCA here.
7 Comments
Tasia
September 14, 2016 at 7:54 pmHi Aga.
Can you get the 500deposit back?
Aga Kozmic
September 14, 2016 at 8:21 pmyes, the card can be returned (only at JR East stations) and the deposit is returned along with any remaining amount. Check this website: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html
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January 31, 2017 at 10:23 pm[…] make your travels around cities easier purchase a Suica or other IC card. It saves you time – you don’t have to stand next to a machine and […]
Anna
April 14, 2017 at 1:28 amHi Aga,
How much money do you recommend putting on the Suica card? I am spending 5 days in Tokyo, 4 days in Kyoto, and 1 day in Osaka. I heard that you cannot get your unused money back at the end. Thanks!
-Anna
Aga Kozmic
April 14, 2017 at 9:25 amHi Anna, it all depends on how much you plan to use public transport vs walk. I personally usually put around 10 000 for 10 days. If you want to do the maths you can check fares on http://www.hyperdia.com/. If you have any money left on your Suica card you can get it refunded but only at JR East station offices (there will be a 220 charge for this). The other option would be using the leftover money in shops – pay for snacks, drinks or lunch to use whatever you have left.
Hope this helps 🙂
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September 5, 2019 at 12:06 am[…] make your travels around cities easier, purchase a Suica or other IC card. It saves you time – you don’t have to stand next to a machine and […]