Japan will make travel and shopping more convenient for tourists by making all various passes and IC cards compatible with each other.
TOKYO- Instead of carrying cash to access anything in Japan, tourism authorities have for long advocate foreign travellers to use rechargeable IC Cards, which offer greater conveniency. For example in Tokyo, tourists are strongly recommended to buy SUICA or PASMO, which is a rechargeable card similar to London’s Oyster Card and can be used in all the public transports in the Japanese capital and its outskirts (there are exceptions such as Bullet trains though). Likewise, other major transport companies and other major cities or areas in Japan have their own unique IC travel card system. A few days ago, it was announced that all the IC cards below would be compatible with each other from 23 March 2013.
The list of IC Cards being readable by all systems are the following (first is the card name followed by the company issuing the card)
- Kitaca: JR Hokkaido
- Pasmo: Kanto’s local private transport companies such as TOKYO Metro (Kanto is the area around TOKYO)
- Suica: JR East (inc. TOKYO, Sendai, Niigata)
- Manaca: Nagoya City
- TOICA: JR Central (inc. Nagoya)
- Pitapa: Kansai’s local private transport companies
- ICOCA: JR West (inc. Okayama, Hiroshima)
- Hayakaken: Fukuoka City
- Nimoca: Fukuoka’s private transport companies
- SUGOCA: JR Kyusyu
From March 2013, once a traveller has acquired a PASMO or SUICA card in TOKYO, he can used its pass in most of Japan’s public transports without bothering to acquire another ticket each time. These travel cards, excluding Pitapa, are also used for shopping at selected convenience stores and on vending machines which have IC reader.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
