Guide · Akihabara

Part of: Do You Need Cash in Japan? (2026)

Welcome Suica: The Card That's Different From "Suica on Your iPhone"

Welcome Suica is JR East's IC card made specifically for short-term visitors: no ¥500 deposit, a ¥20,000 balance cap, and 28 days of validity from first use — after which the balance is gone, not refunded. It comes in two forms: a physical card sold at Narita and Haneda airports and at several JR stations, and Welcome Suica Mobile, an app for iPhone and Apple Watch that lasts six months instead of 28 days. Neither is the same thing as adding a regular Suica to Apple Wallet.

I get asked about this constantly on tours, usually by someone who read one Suica guide, then a second one, and came away with two different answers about deposits and expiry. That's because most guides are describing two different products.

What is Welcome Suica, exactly?

It's a rechargeable IC card for tap payments on trains, buses, and at many shops and vending machines — functionally identical to a regular Suica at the point of use — but with terms designed for someone leaving the country in a few weeks rather than living here. No deposit, a spending cap, and a hard expiry date instead of an indefinite one.

A standard Suica card (the kind a resident gets) requires a ¥500 deposit, refundable when you return the card. Welcome Suica skips that deposit entirely, which is the whole point — JR East doesn't expect you to walk it into a station to get your ¥500 back before your flight.

How is Welcome Suica different from a regular Suica card?

Three differences matter: no deposit (regular Suica needs ¥500), a fixed 28-day validity from first use (regular Suica doesn't expire under normal use), and a ¥20,000 balance cap. Everything else — tapping through gates, paying at convenience stores, riding buses — works identically.

The non-refundable balance at expiry is the detail worth planning around — see the tip below on how to avoid losing money to it.

Where do you buy a physical Welcome Suica card?

At dedicated Welcome Suica machines and counters at Narita Airport and Haneda Airport, and at a small number of JR East stations elsewhere in the network. It's designed to be one of the first things you do after landing, before you've even left the airport.

If you're arriving somewhere other than Narita or Haneda, don't assume every station sells it — the physical card's distribution is airport-first, with only a handful of additional JR stations carrying it. If your arrival airport isn't Narita or Haneda, the Mobile app version below is the more reliable option.

What is Welcome Suica Mobile, and how is it different from the physical card?

Welcome Suica Mobile is an app version for iPhone and Apple Watch that you can set up entirely from your phone — no airport counter, no queue — and it lasts 180 days instead of 28. You top it up directly with a credit card through Apple Pay.

This is a meaningfully better deal for anyone with a compatible iPhone: six months of validity instead of one, issued anywhere with an internet connection, with top-ups that don't require finding a machine. The tradeoff is that it's iPhone/Apple Watch only — there's no Android equivalent of Welcome Suica Mobile, so Android users are limited to the physical card.

Is Welcome Suica the same as "adding Suica to Apple Wallet"?

No, and this is the single most common confusion. Adding a regular (non-"Welcome") Suica to Apple Wallet is a completely separate setup, covered in how to use Suica on iPhone — that version has no built-in expiry aimed at tourists and works more like the card a resident would carry. Welcome Suica Mobile is JR East's tourist-specific product, distinct from a plain Apple Wallet Suica, even though both live in the same Wallet app and both work the same way at a gate.

If you already have an iPhone and are deciding between the two: Welcome Suica Mobile is built for a short visit and is the one JR East actively promotes to tourists; a plain Apple Wallet Suica works too and simply doesn't carry the tourist-specific 180-day framing. Either gets you through a gate.

What happens to my balance when it expires?

It's gone — not refunded, whether the card expires before or after you've used it up. This is the detail every guide to Welcome Suica flags, because it's the one part of the deal that's worse than a regular Suica, which can be refunded (for a small fee) when you're done with it.

The practical fix is simple: don't overload the card near the end of your trip. Top up in smaller amounts as you go rather than loading ¥15,000 onto it on day one, and try to spend down the balance in your last day or two — a convenience store run covers small leftover amounts easily, the same trick that works for leftover cash.

Should I get the physical card or the Mobile app?

If you have a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch, Welcome Suica Mobile is the better default: longer validity, no airport queue, and top-ups from your phone. Get the physical card if you have an Android phone, want a paper-and-plastic souvenir, or you'd rather not manage another virtual card in your Wallet app.

A few more practical notes:

• Trip longer than 28 days on the physical card? You'll need a plan for what to do once it expires — either the Mobile app (iPhone/Watch) or a regular Suica if you're staying long enough to justify the deposit.
• Losing the physical card means losing whatever balance was left — there's no ID-linked recovery the way there sometimes is with a registered regular Suica.
• It works the same as any Suica for buses and shops outside Tokyo too, within the wider IC card network — see Suica on buses and outside Tokyo for the details that don't change between card types.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a passport to buy Welcome Suica? Airport IC card counters generally expect proof you're a short-term visitor to sell you the tourist version rather than a regular card, so bring your passport when you buy it, the same as for most tourist-specific services at the airport.

Can I use Welcome Suica outside Tokyo? Yes — it works anywhere the regular Suica/IC card network works, which covers most of Japan's major cities and transit systems, not just the Tokyo area.

What happens if I try to add more than ¥20,000? The card won't accept a top-up past its cap, so plan your top-ups in smaller increments rather than trying to load a large amount at once.

Is Welcome Suica Mobile available for Android? No — it's iPhone and Apple Watch only. Android users needing a tourist IC card should get the physical Welcome Suica card instead.

Does the 28-day clock start when I buy the card or when I first use it? From first use — tapping it at a gate or payment terminal for the first time, not from the moment of purchase.

Is there a cheaper way to avoid IC cards altogether? You can pay cash or a regular card for individual train tickets everywhere, but an IC card removes the hassle of buying a ticket for every single ride — worth it for almost any multi-day stay, even with the balance-forfeiture tradeoff.

The first tap matters less than the first day

Guests on my tours almost never have trouble with the card itself once they have one — the confusion is always beforehand, standing at an airport kiosk with two very similarly-named products on the screen. Knowing which one you actually want before you land saves that whole moment of hesitation.

My Akihabara anime tour runs most weeks in English, rated 4.96★ on Airbnb — plenty of guests show up straight from the airport, IC card freshly tapped for the first time that morning.

About the author. I am Yuuki, a Japanese teacher and Akihabara tour guide in Tokyo. I run small-group tours in English most weeks and have watched over 1,500 anime series. I still carry a physical Suica from years ago, deposit and all.

See the Akihabara anime tour →

Sources: JR East's own Welcome Suica pages (jreast.co.jp/en/multi/welcomesuica/) describe the product but returned a 403 error to automated access while writing this — the figures above (28-day validity, ¥20,000 cap, no deposit, non-refundable balance, 180-day Mobile validity, Narita/Haneda + JR station availability, iPhone/Apple Watch-only Mobile app) are corroborated across independent travel-guide coverage, including Tokyo Cheapo (tokyocheapo.com) and Get Around Japan's 2026 Welcome Suica guide (getaroundjapan.jp). Treat exact figures as subject to change and confirm at the point of purchase.