iPhone: The Killer Japan Travel Hack

IC cards (Suica, Pasmo, Icoca etc) make life so much easier in Japan. You can pay for nearly everything with them: local transport, convenience stores, restaurants, taxis, vending machines etc. But it’s getting much harder to buy physical IC cards. Luckily, if you’ve got an iPhone, you can (probably) get a digital IC card. Here are all the details.

Physical IC Cards Are Getting Hard to Get

Until recently, you could buy regular Suica and Pasmo cards from vending machines in Japan. However, due to chip shortages, this is no longer possible. However, you can buy IC cards designed for tourists at certain locations: Welcome Suica cards are available from vending machines at Haneda and Narita airports; and Pasmo Passport cards are available at counters at Narita and Haneda and certain locations in Tokyo. For all the details, see How To Get A Prepaid Travel Card in 2024. The problem is, the lines and the machines and counters can be very long. If you’re in Kansai, however, you can still buy physical Icoca cards (which work the same as Suica and Pasmo) from vending machines at most JR stations there.

You Can Get a Digital IC Card on Your iPhone

If you’ve got an iPhone, you may be able to get a digital IC card and avoid all the hassles of trying to get a physical IC card. If you’ve got Apple Wallet on your phone, and it’s linked to a MasterCard, Apple Card or American Express card, you’re good to go. For some strange reason, this won’t work with a Visa card.

How to Add a Digital Suica Card to Your Apple Wallet

Simply do this:

• Open Apple Wallet
• Tap + sign or “add”
• Tap “transit card”
• Find “Suica” on the list
• Add value to card (this will be charged to the credit card linked to your Apple Wallet)

This process is described on the Apple site here. Just note that you cannot charge your digital Suica with a Visa card, even if that card is linked to your Apple Wallet. You can charge the digital Suica with a MasterCard, American Express or Apple Card that is linked to Apple Wallet. Be warned, however, that certain MasterCard or American Express cards can’t be linked to Apple Wallet. You can usually find out if your card works with Apple Wallet by checking the website of the issuing bank or card provider.

How to Charge Your Digital Suica Card

As long as you’ve got a MasterCard, American Express or Apple card linked to your Apple Wallet, you can easily charge your digital Suica card just by tapping a few things on your phone. You can also charge your digital Suica card on certain IC card machines at larger JR stations in Japan and at most convenience stores in Japan. At JR stations, look for the IC card machines (Suica, Icoca etc) and find one that has a tray large enough to hold your phone (don’t jam your phone into one not designed to hold a phone as it may get stuck). At convenience stores, just hold up your phone to the cashier and say “charge.” In both cases, you must use Japanese cash to charge the digital IC on your phone (ie, you cannot use a credit card).

What If You Cannot Link a Card to Apple Wallet? Is There a Workaround?

Yes! What you can do is buy a physical Icoca card at any major JR train station in the Kansai area of Japan (including at Kansai Airport). Then, you can import your physical Icoca card into your Apple Wallet. It will import the remaining balance on the card. This process is described here. Thereafter, you can charge your Icoca card at IC card machines and convenience stores in Japan, as described in the previous section. Obviously, the shortcoming of this method is that you won’t be able to get an IC card on your phone until you get to Kansai. But you could always buy a Welcome Suica or Pasmo Passport in Tokyo and then switch to a digital Icoca when you get to Kansai.

Install a Digital IC Card Before Arriving and Skip the Lines at the Airport

If you install your digital IC card before arriving in Japan, you’ll be able to skip the lines at Narita and Haneda airports. At Narita, you can use the digital Suica to pass through the turnstiles for the JR lines. Then, you can use it to buy a reserved seat for the Narita Express from reserved seat ticket machines on the platform. At Haneda, you can use the digital Suica to cover your fare on the Tokyo Monorail or Keikyu line (no reserved seat ticket needed). I describe this in more detail on my Top 10 Japan Travel Hacks page.

What Can You Pay with a Digital IC Card?

Here are some places and things you can pay with a digital IC card like Suica, Welcome Suica, Pasmo, Passmo Passort and Icoca:

• local trains (both JR and private lines)
• local buses
• subways
• taxis
• convenience stores
• many restaurants
• many shops
• coin lockers
• vending machines

How to Pay with a Digital IC Card

It’s extremely easy to use a digital IC card. Essentially, just imagine that your phone is a big IC card. There is a chip in the phone near the camara lenses of the phone (ie, near the top of the phone). In most cases, your phone does not have to unlocked to make the payment. At stores, there will be a card reader near the cash register. Just hold up your phone at the cashier and they will understand that you want to pay with an IC card (in this case, a digital IC card). They will indicate when you should tap your phone on the reader. If they look confused, just say “Suica” (sounds like “Sue E Kah”). At train stations, look for the turnstile with the symbol for IC cards (tap your phone when you enter the system and leave the system). On buses, look for the IC reader. In taxis, tell the driver you want to pay by IC card and he will hold the reader out to you. Just note that “IC” is pronounced “Eye She” in Japanese.

The Final Killer Hack That Just Might Work for You: SmartEX for Shinkansen Tickets

The best thing about a digital IC card like Suica or Icoca is that it frees you from having to handle cash or credit cards for your purchases. On days when you’re not traveling on shinkansen, you can really just get around with your iPhone (of course, you should carry some cash and a credit card as a backup). But, if you really want to free yourself from cash and cards, even on the shinkansen, you might just be able to make this one work: the SmartEX for shinkansen tickets.

SmartEX is an app that allows you to buy shinkansen tickets online with your phone. You can then link SmartEX to your digital IC card and you no longer need a physical ticket. Your digital IC card “stores” your ticket information so you just have to tap your phone when you pass through the shinkansen turnstiles. The machine actually produces a seat information ticket that you grab as you pass through the turnstiles. If you’ve bought an unreserved ticket, it just shows your departure and arrival station.

Unfortunately, there’s one huge problem with this method: SmartEX must be linked to a credit card. It doesn’t work off of Apple Wallet – you must separately link SmartEX to a credit card. And, it won’t work with most foreign credit cards. This has something to do with the 3D security system that SmartEx uses. However, some foreign credit cards do work with SmartEX. It’s worth a try, but don’t spend too long on it. We expect that SmartEX will change their system to allow foreigners to use the app more easily in the future.

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