Mt Fuji & Hakone
Day Tour
See this world famous Japanese Icon.
Includes return trip via Shinkansen (bullet train)
Panoramic Tokyo
Day Tour Meiji Shrine, Asakusa Guest House, National Diet Building, Imperial Palace East Garden, Asakusa Temple, Ginza, Tokyo Bay Cruise, Rainbow Bridge & Odaiba.
Cityrama Tokyo
Afternoon Tour Tokyo Tower, National Diet Building, Imperial Palace Plaza,
Asakusa Kannon Temple, Nakamise Shopping Street & Ginza.
Kyoto Highlights
Day Tour from Tokyo
The best of Kyoto in one day.
Kinkakuji Temple - Golden Pavilion
Kiyomizu Temple
Kyoto Imperial Palace
Nijo Castle
Heian Shrine
Sanjusangendo Hall
Kyoto Handicraft Center
SUICA
SUICA - A Tokyo
public transport ticketing system. Suica can also be used in other
locations and for other purchases.
Suica (スイカ, Suika)
is a rechargeable contactless smart card used as a fare card on
train lines in Japan.
Launched in November 2001, the card is usable currently in the
Kanto region, at JR East stations
near Sendai and
Niigata, and in the
Kansai region on JR West. The
card can also be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA card in
the Kansai region and also will
be used with JR Central's TOICA starting from spring of 2008. The
card is also increasingly being accepted as a form of electronic
money for purchases at stores and kiosks within train stations. As
of April 2007, over 20 million Suica cards were in circulation.
Card Name
Provider
Area
Suica
JR East
JR lines in Hokkaido,
Sendai, Tokyo & surrounding prefectures, Niigata and JR West
Pasmo
Public transport
organisation in Tokyo & surrounding prefectures
Most trains, buses in
Tokyo & surrounding prefectures including JR lines
Icoca
JR West
Sendai,
Tokyo & surrounding prefectures, Niigata, Tokai, Osaka & surrounding
prefectures, Okayama and Hiroshima
Pitapa
Public transport
organisation in Osaka & surrounding prefectures
Most trains, buses in
Osaka & surrounding prefectures including JR lines
Since Suica is completely interchangeable with the Pasmo card (see
for the complete listing of companies and lines that accept Suica)
in the greater Tokyo area, it is supported on
virtually any train, tramway, and bus system (excluding various
limited and Shinkansen
trains, as well as a few local buses as the system is still in the
process of being extended to all routes).
Suica Services
Usage of the card
involves passing it over a card reader. The technology allows for
the card to be read at some distance from the reader, so contact is
not required. Many people leave the card in their wallet and just
pass the wallet over the reader as they enter the ticket gate.
The balance on the card is displayed when you enter the ticket gate
this way. The minimum fare is needed on the card when entering the
train system, which is not deducted at that time. The balance is
also displayed whenever the card is inserted into the ticket or fare
adjustment machines as well. A travel record is stored on the card,
and can be displayed or printed out at the same place where one can
purchase and reload the Suica cards.
On exit, the card is again passed over the card reader. At this time
the fare is deducted from the remaining balance from the card and
the new balance is displayed.
The card can also be used to store a commuter pass. This is
available for purchase from regular ticket vending machines and
allows a Monthly, 3-monthly or Annual pass for travel between two JR
stations to be stored on the card.
On occasion, when traveling to a station where Suica is not
supported, the card must be handed over to the staff at the exiting
station, so that they can calculate the remaining fare and return a
slip of paper which must be given to the staff at the next station
where Suica is used. Since the system keeps track when a card enters
and leaves a station, if the records show that the card had entered
a station but not left (due to the situation such as described
above, or technical malfunctions), the station staff can reset the
card.
Suica Points of
Purchase
These cards are
available at card vending machines at the train stations that allows
Suica. A new card costs 2,000 yen, which includes a 500 yen deposit
that will be refunded if the card is returned. The remaining 1,500
yen is immediately available for train rides, and more money can be
charged on to the card (in 1,000 yen, 2,000 yen, 3,000 yen, 4,000
yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen increments), up to a card maximum of
20,000 yen, at similar ticket vending machines or fare adjustment
machines displaying the Suica logo inside each station.
Types of Suica
Cards
Suica cards are
sold by three railway companies
Suica card: sold by JR East
View Suica card: sold by JR East
Rinkai Suica card: sold by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (Rinkai
Line)
Monorail Suica card: sold by Tokyo Monorail
A Suica card works as the standard prepaid Suica card (with user's
name available on it) which can be used to ride trains in the place
of paper tickets, or it can become the Suica commuter pass for
unlimited traveling between two destinations for work or school. The
Suica commuter pass also doubles as a prepaid Suica card for
purchases or tickets outside of the normal commute route.
The VIEW Suica card pairs the prepaid Suica with a credit card.
Various types exist, including at least one available through JR and
View, and others such as the Bic Camera Suica. These function both
as a pre-paid Suica as well as a regular credit card, and provide an
auto-charge feature to prevent exhausting the Suica balance
unintentionally. The automatically recharged amount is added to the
user's credit card bill. Thus, these cards have two balances: a
prepaid Suica balance and a credit balance for which monthly bills
are sent. Thus, store-related cards like the Bic Suica card can
include fully three separate functions: serving as a store point
card, a general use Suica, and as a credit card. Any credit purchase
(restricted, in the case of Bic, to JCB) adds a small amount to the
available points on the store point card. Yet another type of Suica
card offered by Japan Airlines (JAL) that is called JALCARD Suica.
In addition to having Suica and credit card functionalities, a
JALCARD Suica card can also function as an electronic boarding pass
for a JAL-operated domestic flight in Japan at an airport that
offers the JAL IC service.
Ticket gates return an error when the scan encounters more than one
compatible card. Although it is intended that each person have only
one Suica card, many people have more than one. Further, since the
introduction of Pasmo in March 2007, more people have at least one
of each. Consequently, JR has begun, and intensified since March, an
awareness campaign to discourage commuters from storing multiple
cards together. Incompatible cards, such as Edy, seem to have an
inconsistent effect on a machine's ability to read the card which
may depend on the reading device.
