Every time I return home to Japan for a visit, I am confronted with a whole new learning curve about how to get around the country. Everything I learned on the previous trip seems obsolete.
Gone are the dedicated train station gate keepers who kept their hole punchers clicking in between tickets to ensure a speedy punch by keeping the momentum going – the rapid click, click, click, click setting the pace for the steady stream of passengers. Automated ticket processors replaced these familiar, traditional figures.
Then came the rechargeable, contactless smart cards. In fact, Japan started developing the consumer IC chip card in 1997 to replace train tickets. In 2001, East Japan Railroad introduced a prepaid IC Card “Suica” (Short for Super Urban Intelligent Card, equipped with Felica Chip developed by Sony Japan). Other railroad companies soon followed with their own cards: such as Kitaca, for JR Hokkaido, and ICOCA, cleverly pronounced ikko ka (meaning “Let’s go”), by JR West Japan.
These IC cards increased ticket gate transactions from 36 people per minute by a station employee to 60 people per minute, as each Suica card transaction takes only 200 milliseconds. Another advantage of the Suica card, is that it can also be used to make purchases at many stores in Japan.
In 2004, NTT Docomo introduced a Felica chip in a cell phone which advanced wallet-less transactions at various businesses. Even then I was awkwardly still sticking in a ticket at the automatic turn stile, irritating the people behind me waiting to rush through with a quick phone scan on the IC reader.
In the US, Apple Pay was introduced in 2014 equipped with a completely different IC chip. Like so many other technologies developed in Japan, Felica chip technology did not cross the Pacific Ocean to the U.S. nor did it cross to continental Asia and on to Europe. This phenomenon is called Galapagosization, referring to Japanese technologies uniquely developed for its domestic market. Their survival outside of the country, or even domestically when other technologies are imported, is dubious.
In the case of Apple Pay, due to the Felica chip’s convenience and ease in rush hour at the train station, Apple Japan had to add a Felica chip to its latest iPhone.
Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Japan is now facing a chip flexibility challenge with the expectation of 40 million visitors! JR said it will strongly promote a traveler-friendly Felica-chip-equipped card. Will the Felicia chip survive? Or will Japan be forced to rethink the Galapagos mentality…
by Keiko Suzuki and Diana Rowland
Here are some useful sites:
1. This website shows a list of transportation related IC cards with good photos and images: https://www.japanstation.com/japans-prepaid-transportation-cards-ic-cards/
2. Apple Support page – Using Suica on iPhone or Apple Watch in Japan: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207154
3. This YouTube Video has good information for Felica: This website/company creates the platform / network of Felica cards: https://www.felicanetworks.co.jp/en/osaifu/realized.html
4. This is JR East English information page for Suica card. It shows how to buy, recharge, where to use and how to get a refund: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html
