JR East has announced plans to upgrade Suica, its prepaid IC card, over the next 10 years, dramatically expanding its range of use. The railway company has dubbed the plans the “Suica Renaissance”.
An illustration from JR East showing Suica’s future range of use
Currently, the main use of Suica is instead of paper tickets. After putting money onto your card at a ticket machine, you can simply tap the card on ticket gates as you go through. The card can also be used on buses, and for buying things from vending machines, convenience stores and some restaurants.
However, JR East’s plan is to make the card even more convenient and expand its range of uses.
One of the biggest changes will be walk-through ticket gates at stations that will allow travelers to pass through without even needing to tap them.
Suica users will be able to use to walk-through gates
Currently the Suica card needs to be charged in advance, but in the future the Suica service will be linked directly to a customer’s credit card or bank account, so that they can pay later.
There are also plans for the Suica app to be upgraded in 2026, so that people can use the app to send and receive direct payments whether to or from friends and family, or in payment for services. The current 20,000 yen spending limit will also be removed.
A new Welcome Suica Mobile for foreign tourists will be introduced in 2025
In March 2025, a new “Welcome Suica Mobile” app will also be introduced for visitors from overseas.
Customers from overseas will be able to download and charge the app, before they arrive in Japan, so that on arrival in Japan they can easily use rail services such as JR lines, the Tokyo Monorail and other railway lines from the Narita and Haneda airports. In addition, this app will be upgraded in the autumn of 2025 to enable easy purchase of JR East’s Shinkansen e-tickets and other ticketless limited express services. More upgrades are planned for this app in the future, which will include enabling foreign visitors to use walk-through gates.
Article by Michael Lambe. Images courtesy of JR East. All rights reserved.
