Suica, PASMO and ICOCA in 2026: which IC card to get and what it costs

By the Japan Travel Costs team. Every figure links to its source with the date we last checked it, and figures we cannot verify are left out. About us.

Last checked 2026-10-21

An IC card is the single most useful thing to have in your pocket in a Japanese city. You tap it on the gate when you enter a station, tap again when you leave, and the fare comes off the balance. No working out which ticket to buy at a machine with a map of fifty stations above it. The same card pays for buses, many vending machines and convenience store purchases.

There are several cards with different names, and the choice confuses a lot of first-time visitors. The good news is that they mostly work in the same places. This guide covers what each one costs, how to get your money back, and which to pick, using the operators' own pages.

The short answer

• Arriving in Tokyo for a short trip: a Welcome Suica or TOURIST PASMO. No deposit, valid 28 days, but the leftover balance is not refunded.
• Staying longer, or planning to come back: a regular Suica, PASMO or ICOCA if you can buy one. You pay a ¥500 deposit that comes back when you return the card.
• Arriving in Osaka or Kyoto: ICOCA, sold by JR West, with the same ¥500 deposit.

Regular Suica

Suica is JR East's card. A new card is sold in amounts of ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥4,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000, and that price includes a ¥500 deposit. Child cards are sold in the same amounts and simply deduct the child fare when you ride (JR East: Suica (price, deposit, top-ups, refunds)).

• Top-ups: in steps of ¥500, ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000, at ticket machines and fare adjustment machines. The maximum balance is ¥20,000.
• Cash only: JR East says Suica cards cannot be topped up with a credit card at those machines.
• Express trains: the card covers the basic fare. Limited express trains, express trains and Green Cars need a separate ticket for the extra charge.
• Areas: Suica works in the Tokyo area and in many other regions, including Sendai, Niigata, Hokkaido, the Tokai area, West Japan, Kyushu and Okinawa. You cannot ride from one area into another on the card alone; JR East's example is Tokyo to Sendai, which needs a ticket.

Getting your money back

Return a JR East Suica at a JR East station and you get the ¥500 deposit back plus the remaining balance minus a ¥220 handling fee. JR East gives worked examples: with ¥1,000 left you receive ¥1,280; with ¥100 left you lose the ¥100 but still get the full ¥500 deposit; with nothing left you still get ¥500 (JR East: Suica (price, deposit, top-ups, refunds)).

A practical tip that follows from this: spend the balance down to almost nothing before you return the card, for example on a last convenience store snack or drink, so the handling fee eats as little as possible. Cards issued by other companies, such as Tokyo Monorail's Suica, have to go back to that company.

A Suica that is not used for 10 years becomes invalid, and a lost card cannot be reissued (JR East: Suica (price, deposit, top-ups, refunds)).

Welcome Suica

Welcome Suica is JR East's version for short-term visitors. It has no deposit, you choose an initial balance of ¥1,000 to ¥10,000, you can top it up with cash to a maximum of ¥20,000, and it is valid for 28 days including the day you buy it. The unused balance is not refunded. JR East sells it at its Travel Service Centers and dedicated machines at Narita and Haneda airports and at some Tokyo stations (JR East: Welcome Suica).

JR East's site blocked our checker during this update, so the Welcome Suica details were read from the indexed version of the official page. Check the page before you travel.

TOURIST PASMO

PASMO is the card of Tokyo's private railways, subways and buses, and it works on the same gates as Suica. The old PASMO PASSPORT for visitors ended in October 2024 (PASMO: end of PASMO PASSPORT (PDF, October 2024)). Its replacement, TOURIST PASMO, has these terms on the official page (PASMO: TOURIST PASMO):

• Price ¥1,000 to ¥10,000, depending on where you buy it. At Haneda's Keikyu stations the machines offer ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥4,000, ¥5,000 and ¥10,000, and accept credit cards. At Keisei's Narita information centres it is sold at ¥2,000.
• No deposit and no refund of leftover value; you keep the card as a souvenir.
• Valid for 28 days from the date of purchase.
• Top-ups cannot take the balance over ¥20,000.

Regular PASMO cards also exist with a ¥500 deposit, but availability varies by railway, so we would not plan around getting one.

ICOCA

ICOCA is JR West's card, sold in the Osaka, Kyoto and wider Kansai area. The standard card costs ¥2,000, which includes a ¥500 deposit; some machines also sell it at ¥1,000, ¥3,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000, again including the deposit (JR West: ICOCA types and deposit (press release PDF)). You buy it at JR West ticket machines marked ICOCA by choosing English and then "Purchase ICOCA" (JR West: buying ICOCA at a ticket machine).

When you return it, the deposit comes back with no fee, and refunding any remaining balance costs ¥220, the same as Suica (JR West: ICOCA types and deposit (press release PDF)).

ICOCA & HARUKA, the old bundle of an ICOCA card and a discounted airport train ticket, is no longer sold. JR West ended sales on 30 September 2023 (JR West: end of ICOCA & HARUKA sales (PDF, 26 July 2023)). See our airport transfers guide for what replaced it.

Do the cards work outside their home area?

Yes, mostly. JR East lists the cards accepted for Suica-style payment: Suica, Kitaca, PASMO, manaca, toica, ICOCA, Hayakaken, nimoca and SUGOCA (JR East: Suica (price, deposit, top-ups, refunds)). In practice that means an ICOCA bought in Osaka works on the Tokyo subway and a Suica bought in Tokyo works in Kyoto. The rule to remember is the one above: you cannot ride across from one IC area into another on the card. For long trips such as Tokyo to Kyoto, buy a Shinkansen ticket.

Using a phone instead

Many visitors add Suica, PASMO or ICOCA to a phone wallet instead of carrying a plastic card. Whether that works depends on your phone model and the country your wallet is set up in, so we have not listed it as a sure thing. If it works for you, there is no plastic card to buy or return. Check your phone's wallet app before you fly, and keep a plastic card as a backup.

How much to load

We cannot tell you an exact daily figure, because local fares depend on distance and which lines you use. Some reference points from operator fare tables help, though:

• Haneda Airport to Shinagawa on Keikyu is ¥330 by ticket or ¥327 by IC card (Keikyu: Haneda Airport fare and time search).
• Haneda Airport to Monorail Hamamatsucho is ¥520 by ticket or ¥519 by IC card, and the shortest Monorail hop is ¥229 by IC (Tokyo Monorail: fare table).

IC fares are often a yen or a few yen cheaper than paper tickets because they are charged to the yen rather than rounded to ¥10. A sensible approach is to load ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 to start, then top up when the gate display shows the balance getting low. The figures for your own days will depend on your route.

Our pick

• One trip of under four weeks, starting in Tokyo: Welcome Suica or TOURIST PASMO, and spend the balance before you leave.
• Starting in Osaka or Kyoto: ICOCA. Return it at the end to get the ¥500 back, or keep it for next time.
• Families: buy child cards so the child fare is charged automatically. See our family of four budget.

Sources: JR East: Suica (price, deposit, top-ups, refunds); JR East: Welcome Suica; PASMO: TOURIST PASMO; PASMO: end of PASMO PASSPORT (PDF, October 2024); JR West: buying ICOCA at a ticket machine; JR West: ICOCA types and deposit (press release PDF); JR West: end of ICOCA & HARUKA sales (PDF, 26 July 2023); Keikyu: Haneda Airport fare and time search; Tokyo Monorail: fare table. Last checked 2026-10-22.

To put local transport into your total, use the trip budget calculator.

Prefer to book ahead? See IC card and transport options on Klook (affiliate link: the site owner may earn a commission at no extra cost to you). Prices there may differ from the official prices above.