An IC card (Suica, PASMO and friends) is the tap-and-go card that gets you through train and subway gates and pays at konbini, vending machines and lots of shops. As a tourist you have three realistic ways in — and the wrong one quietly costs you a deposit you leave behind or a balance you can never claw back. Mio doesn't guess; Mio reads the official JR East and Apple pages. Here's the calculated pick.
| Your situation | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone (8 / later), any trip length | Suica or PASMO in Apple Wallet | No plastic, no deposit, refill by card, keep it between visits |
| No compatible phone · trip ≤ ~4 weeks | Welcome Suica (physical) | No ¥500 deposit to leave behind; fine if you'll spend the balance |
| No compatible phone · trip > 4 weeks | Regular Suica / PASMO (physical) | No 28-day expiry; ¥500 deposit is refundable at a station |
| Repeat visitor to Japan | Mobile or regular Suica | Reuse the same card/balance next trip; no forfeited balance |
General guidance, not an official recommendation. Compatibility, availability and terms are set by JR East, PASMO and Apple — verify with the sources below for your device and dates.
Welcome Suica is a JR East IC card made for visitors — the red sakura-design card. The tourist-friendly headline is that it has no ¥500 deposit: you only pay what you load. Widely reported terms (consistent with JR East's tourist guidance) are that it is valid for 28 days from first use, after which it deactivates, and that the remaining balance is not refundable — before or after expiry.
So the math is simple and a little unforgiving: you get the deposit saving, but you lose whatever balance is left when the 28 days are up. It's a good deal only if your trip is short and you top up in small amounts so you finish close to zero. It's sold at dedicated machines and JR East Travel Service Centers at the Narita Airport stations (and some other locations); confirm current sales points before you rely on it.
If you carry a compatible iPhone, you can add a Suica, PASMO or ICOCA card directly in Apple Wallet and skip plastic entirely. Per Apple's official support, you can add these transit cards in Japan on an iPhone 8 or later (or Apple Watch Series 3 or later) with the latest supported iOS/watchOS, an Apple Account with two-factor authentication, and an eligible payment card in Wallet. A digital card issued this way has no deposit.
The catch is top-ups need a card that works. Apple notes Mastercard and American Express in Apple Wallet generally work for these transit cards; support for foreign Visa cards has broadened since iOS 17.2 (December 2023) but not every Visa from every issuer is guaranteed — so bring a backup card. Two important edge cases: (1) if you want to transfer an existing physical card onto the phone, that has its own steps and limits; and (2) older or Japan-purchased hardware rules apply for Apple Watch — check Apple's page for your exact model. For a fully English, no-Japanese-address flow, some tourists use the Welcome Suica Mobile app to issue a card and then add it to Wallet; availability and terms are set by JR East, so confirm on their app/site.
The standard card carries a ¥500 deposit that is refundable when you return the card at a station, and it has no 28-day expiry — so no balance-forfeit trap. For a longer stay, or if you'll come back to Japan, that makes it friendlier than Welcome Suica despite the deposit. The trade-off is you must physically hand it back to recover the deposit and any balance (a small handling fee can apply to cash refunds).
From June 2023, JR East and other eastern-Japan operators limited sales of physical Suica and PASMO because of a global semiconductor (chip) shortage — first unregistered cards, later registered ones too — and for a stretch, cards were mainly issued digitally via the mobile apps. Reporting indicates the situation has eased since 2024–2025 (plastic cards returned to machines, and unregistered standard cards resumed broader sale from March 2025). Even so, availability of a specific physical card at a specific station can still vary — which is another reason the mobile route is the safer bet if your phone supports it. Confirm current status before you count on buying plastic on arrival.
Compatible iPhone → go digital (Suica/PASMO in Apple Wallet). No compatible phone and a short trip → Welcome Suica, loading small. No compatible phone and a long trip, or you'll return to Japan → regular Suica/PASMO so nothing is forfeited.
Related reading: more Japan travel guides →.
Mio