4 ms·

Is it still difficult to obtain a suica / pasmo card in Tokyo? Last time I was there it was difficult to obtain the card.

by zzygan 3y ago

SSLy 3y ago
I got mine from an ATM like machine years ago and it was very smooth.
- Klonoar 3y ago
  They’re referencing the recent shortage in them. I passed through visiting old friends last week and they had them at some stations but not all.
- klausa 3y ago
  https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/news/pdf/2023731_press_release_Suspension_of_Suica_and_PASMO_sales.pdf https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/news/pdf/2023731_press_r...
klausa 3y ago
Apparently as of ~last week or so regular Suicas have started popping up again. But it was never a problem to get one at the airport, which where a vast majority of people should get them. If you skipped that part, it was quite painful in the past few months because of the IC chip shortage.
ayakang31415 3y ago
If you have an iPhone, just change your phone region to Japan, and use wallet app to add Suica card to your apple wallet. You can charge whatever amount to your Suica card using Apple pay and it's good to go.
- klausa 3y ago
  You don't need to change regions anymore. And I think recently when you look up directions in Apple Maps, it even suggests adding a transit card if you don't have one! Here, under Transit Cards in Maps. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-16-maps/ https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-16-maps/ It would be a _fantastic_ feature if I wasn't a control freak and didn't add one before I even boarded the plane, but still a very nice touch.
- aspenmayer 3y ago
  There’s no need to change any region; just open Wallet, press the + sign in upper right corner, scroll down to transit cards, and scroll down to Japan section to find Suica as well as PASMO and ICOCA.
- modeless 3y ago
  As long as you aren't using a foreign Visa card! They are having some sort of spat with Visa right now. Tourists should get a physical card at the airport. There are too many caveats and exceptions to phone wallet support for non-residents.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
Tijdreiziger 3y ago
Suica: > Sales of JR East's Suica card (image of a penguin on the front) will be discontinued for the time being as of June 8 due to a worldwide semiconductor shortage. [1] Welcome Suica (for short-term visits): > Welcome Suica sales will be limited to the following for the time being from December 18th: > * JR EAST Travel Service Center, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station > * Welcome Suica exclusive vending machine, Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station > Please note that only one Welcome Suica will be sold per person. > Please note that IC cards will not be sold at Narita Airport after the 18th. [2] PASMO: > The sale of blank PASMO has been temporarily suspended. > The sale of Personalized PASMO has been temporarily suspended. [3] PASMO PASSPORT (for short-term visits): > The card is available for purchase at 21 locations. [4] [1] https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html [2] https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.... [3] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/ [4] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/
- resolutebat 3y ago
  This is partly misleading and partly out of date: Welcome Suicas have been available at the airport throughput, and regular Suicas are available again at major JR East stations.
  - Tijdreiziger 3y ago
    Thanks for the additional info. I didn’t intend to mislead; the quoted passages are straight off the Suica and PASMO websites, so they are only outdated insofar as those websites are outdated.

Is it still difficult to obtain a suica / pasmo card in Tokyo? Last time I was there it was difficult to obtain the card.

by zzygan 3y ago

Is it still difficult to obtain a suica / pasmo card in Tokyo? Last time I was there it was difficult to obtain the card.

SSLy 3y ago

I got mine from an ATM like machine years ago and it was very smooth.

Klonoar 3y ago
They’re referencing the recent shortage in them. I passed through visiting old friends last week and they had them at some stations but not all.
klausa 3y ago
https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/news/pdf/2023731_press_release_Suspension_of_Suica_and_PASMO_sales.pdf https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/news/pdf/2023731_press_r...

klausa 3y ago

Apparently as of ~last week or so regular Suicas have started popping up again. But it was never a problem to get one at the airport, which where a vast majority of people should get them. If you skipped that part, it was quite painful in the past few months because of the IC chip shortage.

ayakang31415 3y ago

If you have an iPhone, just change your phone region to Japan, and use wallet app to add Suica card to your apple wallet. You can charge whatever amount to your Suica card using Apple pay and it's good to go.

klausa 3y ago
You don't need to change regions anymore. And I think recently when you look up directions in Apple Maps, it even suggests adding a transit card if you don't have one! Here, under Transit Cards in Maps. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-16-maps/ https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-16-maps/ It would be a _fantastic_ feature if I wasn't a control freak and didn't add one before I even boarded the plane, but still a very nice touch.
aspenmayer 3y ago
There’s no need to change any region; just open Wallet, press the + sign in upper right corner, scroll down to transit cards, and scroll down to Japan section to find Suica as well as PASMO and ICOCA.
modeless 3y ago
As long as you aren't using a foreign Visa card! They are having some sort of spat with Visa right now. Tourists should get a physical card at the airport. There are too many caveats and exceptions to phone wallet support for non-residents.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

Tijdreiziger 3y ago

Suica: > Sales of JR East's Suica card (image of a penguin on the front) will be discontinued for the time being as of June 8 due to a worldwide semiconductor shortage. [1] Welcome Suica (for short-term visits): > Welcome Suica sales will be limited to the following for the time being from December 18th: > * JR EAST Travel Service Center, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station > * Welcome Suica exclusive vending machine, Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station > Please note that only one Welcome Suica will be sold per person. > Please note that IC cards will not be sold at Narita Airport after the 18th. [2] PASMO: > The sale of blank PASMO has been temporarily suspended. > The sale of Personalized PASMO has been temporarily suspended. [3] PASMO PASSPORT (for short-term visits): > The card is available for purchase at 21 locations. [4] [1] https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html [2] https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.html https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/welcomesuica.... [3] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/normalpasmo/ [4] https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/ https://www.pasmo.co.jp/visitors/en/buy/

resolutebat 3y ago
This is partly misleading and partly out of date: Welcome Suicas have been available at the airport throughput, and regular Suicas are available again at major JR East stations.
- Tijdreiziger 3y ago
  Thanks for the additional info. I didn’t intend to mislead; the quoted passages are straight off the Suica and PASMO websites, so they are only outdated insofar as those websites are outdated.