One thing I really appreciate about Suica is the low latency. You can tap while walking quickly and not have to slow down to get through the ticket gate. Compared with e.g. London, where you have to almost stop because the gates take so long to open, it really makes it easy for a trainload of people to get out of a station.
The name is also a bad pun; Sui-sui is onomatopoeia for smooth movement (like fish swimming), so it’s the card for moving smoothly. Also, suica means watermelon so the card is green.
So I purchased an Apple watch and I was really excited to have contactless payments...it's fucking awkward with Mastercard or Visa to be standing there with your arm twisted in a strange way waiting for the payment to be approved. Kind of always seems like it's not going to work and people always have to make some type of joke to make you feel less weird about it.
Suica is also available on the watch and it's much better? Why is that?
Suica is a stored value card, so you don't have to do an online balance check to validate a transaction.
There is also probably a practical element to it, in that Suica and other IC cards are managed by entities that are closely linked to the various train systems in Japan. The terminals are known to them, the cards were all issued by them; they can probably preload a lot of stuff at all the train stations and keep the data regarding the cards synced directly among the stations. (It's at least feasible that by the time you get to the next station, 90% of the time, the information about your card is already there.) This is in contrast to what would happen if you used Mastercard or Visa to pay for train fares, where all the data would first have to go to northern Virginia...
Suica defaults to express/transit mode in Apple Pay/Wallet. Using it in your phone is as quick as using a physical card.
Express mode can be configured with plenty of other cards as well, even regular credit cards. That's how it works in London. The difference in speed is because of the gates, not the payment system.
That has nothing to do with the technology in the IC card.
In terms of real life use, a Suica card in Apple Wallet is indistinguishable from a physical Suica card. Suica itself isn't that much different from any other prepaid transit card, so I don't get the hype. This is some early 2000s technology.
Personally, I see no difference in speed when paying with either an Oyster card (London), an EZCard (Taiwan), a Suica Card, or any Apple Wallet card in transit mode.
the 100-200ms is a big deal, and it's not some random spec, JR made it a binding requirement to use their system after real world evaluation of the latency impact. So yes, Felica is also sub 200ms for that part.
As a user, there's so much going on when touching a card at rush hour for instance, getting virtually no perceivable latency helps us to focus on the rest (distance, angle, check the screen, distance with the person ahead). As you point out in other comment, of course the design of the whole gate comes into play to help the user deal with it.
It reminds me of the microsoft study on how low the latency has to be to become transparent to the user. Except JR actually cared about their results.
The difference is immense between an Oyster or EZCard and a Suica.
The EZCard and Oyster gates often have lines because of how long it takes for the gates to recognize the EZCard; you'll have people queuing up to get into the station. They as a bottleneck where the flow of traffic is interrupted and slowed down to below walking speed.
This is important as it disrupts flow and public transit during rush hour and is unacceptable. You can see for instance in this video, when people are tapping their cards they are slowing down and waiting for the transaction.
This makes a BIG difference for how many people can enter the station at once. With Suica/NFC-F you've essentially removed the station gates as a barrier for traffic flow, whereas with Oyster/EZCard (and EZCard being a HUGE offender) you're introducing barriers to traffic.
It may not matter if you're not at a huge station and you have tons of time, but imagine people constantly filing out of Shinjuku station during rush hour and having to queue up on the stairs outside of the gates just to get in - the delay is unacceptable and a human health hazard. When rush hour happens and someone's card is declined, the second or so it takes for them to back out creates a huge jam and crowding. During large events (for instance, people trying to file in/out of stations for performances), this is especially a problem when people don't have enough money on their cards.
In addition to the latency, Suica & these other IC cards also start the process at a further distance, and also work better through wallets/card holders. EZCards are especially bad at that (and won't work through pretty much anything). This reduces the friction required to take the card out, as people can just tap their whole wallet and it'll go through multiple credit cards as well.
The whole goal is to create a smooth process where you can walk through transit gates without stopping or slowing down, and Oyster and EZCards fail at doing that.
Oyster cards and EZCards are fine low traffic transit solutions but the requirement for walking speed not to be interrupted is why they aren't feasible in Japan. EZCards are especially terrible, as they pretty much need to contact the reader to scan. It's painful to see people coming out of the trains in Taiwan and having to line up to leave the station.
I think you are conflating many different things here.
NFC-F is widespread. It's not a Japanese thing anymore. Also, the difference in latency between NFC-F based IC cards, and lower end NFC cards, is perhaps 100ms to 200ms, tops.
You seem to think that Suica cards make a huge difference by comparing London and Tokyo flows of traffic, but London underground stations are older, narrower, and less modernized than those in Tokyo. Most stations in London are several decades older than those in Tokyo, poorly maintained, with a handful of gates for hundreds of people coming out at once. It's worth noting that latest Oyster cards are actually based on Mifare Desfire, meaning that they should be twice as fast as Felica cards on paper.
On the other hand, why not compare other systems based on NFC-F, like those in Bangalore or Jakarta?
Ignoring factors such as infrastructure, culture, prevalence of means of transportation, etc., and focus on one hundred milliseconds, is a bit myopic.
In Jakarta, the MRT and KRL systems use FeliCa technology but also accept Mifare-based cards. The speed difference is significant; FeliCa offers a smoother flow, while with Mifare-based systems, there is a noticeable wait time.
Why is Japanese software so bad? Chip shortage or not using the card purchase UI at train stations is confusing, even in English.
As a US software engineer, I can not figure out how a country that can make great hardware (e.g. high-speed trains), has a beautifully minimalist design aesthetic (e.g. wabi-sabi), and lots of talented artists and engineers can produce such crappy user interfaces. Or for that matter, beyond a few games is irrelevant in the world software markets. Does anyone have an idea?
Some software may not bridge the gap in design sensibilities between Japan and other countries, but Sony and Nintendo are examples of massive Japanese companies working on various hardware and UX solutions for an international audience. I don't think it's fair to paint software from Japan with such a broad brush.
A minimalist design aesthetic also doesn't automatically equate to good UX. I think there's lots of people on this site that would say modern, western UX is often poorly executed and potentially getting worse (in some regards.) A common complaint I hear is that interfaces have too much white-space.
If UX is predicated on user research, it's important to recognize that people coming from outside Japan and who don't know the language aren't the target users and probably not the right ones to be making a judgement calls on the quality of Japanese software as a whole.
If you're asking about the difference in design sensibilities, this is speculation, but a couple things that come to mind are:
- The information density of local written languages.
- The relatively small number of fluent English speakers in Japan means there's potentially less opportunity for ideas and design patterns to cross pollinate, making each style feel more foreign to outsiders.
I believe that there two factors that people don't talk about much:
- Software engineering wasn't much of a prestige profession (I suspect still isn't), and most bright STEM students ended up studying other forms of engineering
- A general lack of interest in hacking and tinkering
People make some wild claims, such as kanji or East Asian culture, but there is plenty of quality Chinese and Korean software.
> not using the card purchase UI at train stations is confusing.
Agreed that the UI for Japanese train ticket machines can be confusing for first-time users such as foreign visitors, but foreign visitors aren't the primary use case. These machines are designed to be familiar and fast for the bulk of their users: residents of Japan who know how the train system works. Stations need to move massive numbers of people through these machines quickly, and this layout is incredibly efficient for that.
Older terminals used a very similar layout of two groupings [1]:
1. physical pushbuttons with prices displayed using 7-segment LEDs
2. physical pushbuttons for most common multi-passenger sets
The touchscreen terminals provide this exact same layout, which provided continuity as the changeover happened, and kept the lines at the machines moving quickly. They're also freakin' brilliant when it comes to minimising the button-presses required to buy tickets. e.g. two parents and a kid going to a station that's 400-yen from here? Press the "two adults, one kid" button, then the fare. You're done. Fare zones are listed on a large train network map usually posted right above the machines with both adult/child prices [2], but locals almost always know where they're going and how much.
Given how heavily-trafficked Japanese stations are, it's way more critical to minimise the time required to use the machines and keep the lines flowing than it is to provide an easy experience for foreign visitors. Compare to e.g. Montréal where even users familiar with the metro can spend upwards of a minute to buy a ticket or recharge an Opus card.
Carryover old user interface (paper, button, board, etc) layout and flow on latest user interface is a phenomenon seen everywhere in Japan. Enterprises don't want to take risk to change interface much, or no ability to think that.
Suica is available for free as a mobile payment method on modern phones and works perfectly. It’s only physical card sales that were suspended in some places.
Sucia requires Osaifu-Keita [1] technology. From my research, the hardware is only available in international iPhone models or models of Android phones that are (largely) sold in Japan.
My understanding is that Android phones purchased in Japan can activate a Suica card. Foreign iPhones are able to register Suica without issue. The only hiccup I had was loading a balance on Suica wasn’t possible with Visa cards. This was the case during my trip this past October.
Suica sales are back as of a week ago. They are available in JR East Travel Service Centers all around Tokyo, even if there is a sign saying they are not. You will have to ask the folks at the counter. Technically there is a restriction of one card per person, however if you are nice and ask them for more and say it's for friends they'll sell you more. Get one now, because they might be limited again soon.
Pasmo card sales are also back as well, however it is very rare . These can be obtained from kiosks. You can find some of them in stations in non-central Tokyo or Yokohama. It's a hit or miss, and often they'll sell out of them from the kiosk in a day or two. Have found them in random stations in the burbs. I haven't seen them at large stations in central Tokyo. Less cool than Suicas.
Toica card sales are still there, and you can get them from Tokyo Station Yaesu North. They're not as cool though, and you might encounter a weird situation where it might not work. Also they look ugly. Might as well hit up a JR East Travel Service Center.
Icocas are still available freely in the Kansai area. Great if you're flying there first. Just as cool as Suicas in my opinion, and cooler than Pasmos for sure.
Welcome Suicas are sometimes available at the airports. Sometimes they aren't. It really depends on the day (have checked multiple days). As of a week or so ago, they've become less available at the airports. I think that the whole supply chain is a bit weird at the moment, and they cannot keep up with demand. They also suck if you plan to come back.
Pasmo Passports seem to be relatively available at major stations. It kinda sucks though because you have to have your actual passport to buy one and they look really cheesy and uncool. Do not recommend. Hit up a JR East Travel Service Center instead.
Mobile IC cards as of today:
Apple: (latest update 17.2) Non-JP foreign visas are working as of now. There was a previous bug/intentional feature that blocked some non-JP foreign visas that is now gone with the newest IOS update. All the large card processors are working for foreign cards, but have only personally verified visa & amex. You can use any iPhone sold from any country. If it's not working, it's because of your credit card issuer claiming fraud detection and you will have to call them. Unfortunately, some CC's will trigger the fraud detection on every transaction trying to charge your card, especially if you're charging from the US. The fraud detection teams explained it as it seems suspicious since it's through apple pay for a foreign service, and some cc companies were unable to even whitelist the transaction due to it being through Apple Pay. You just have to call them/have them call you. Be careful trying to load if you don't have cell service though because they might disable your CC until you call.
Android: If you are going and do not have an Android with NFC-F ENABLED (not just present physically as the hardware may be built in, but ENABLED) you will be unable to use it. This causes a lot of confusion given that there are Google Pixel Pasmo ads all over the stations. Unfortunately, most android phones not sold in JP or other countries that use NFC-F will not be able to be used as a tap device for transit. Basically: did you buy your Android phone in JP? If not, don't count on it working.
Things are changing daily so might be out of date in a week or two.
FWIW, I used Suica on Apple Wallet on my iPhone 12 in July of this year. Adding money to the card required a debit card tied to my bank. Payment failed with a Visa credit card. Additionally, payment only worked during Japan business hours. But as long as there was money on the card, the card itself (on the phone) worked around the clock. The card worked for train travel, convenience stores, and vending machines.
Don’t worry! Visa and MasterCard have lobbied the hapless fools who inherited this wonderfully efficient and effective system, and the trains of Japan will soon switch over to join the global payment oligarchy.
Japan is about half a generation away from mass-scale mediocrity.
To the parent, the credit card system will be parrallel to Suica/passmo, not a replacement. People would freak out with a system that isn't prepaid (think school kids), doesn't fully work offline and is twice as slow as the current one.
The problem isn’t technical, it’s social. I don’t want my bank, and some “global payment network” that can easily lobby its way out of real data oversight, to know my transit patterns and habits.
i think i may have seen those at some stations, they are attached like clunky add-ons to the gates, but ive never seen anyone actually use them.... i wonder why they are being installed... easier for tourism maybe?
Getting a suica card on your phone is super easy as a tourist, easy to charge up using a credit card attached to ApplePay or whatever the google equiv is. The only issue is if you are traveling with a kid who needs children fares, then you actually need a physical card.
Maybe it's different on iOS but it is impossible on Android to use unless you have a Japanese credit card with a Japanese address. There seems to be no way to even use a foreign credit card to add money to an IC card. Had to relent on getting the cash back on my Sapphire and just top up with cash my last trip.
I'm just glad most of the machines allow for 10 yen increments now, so I can just dump in coins I get from the rare place that doesn't accept credit cards nowadays.
I heard that was also a restriction for Apple a few months before I went on my trip, but by August 2023 it wasn’t anymore. Maybe the same is true for Android? If not, that’s a super weird limitation of Android. It definitely doesn’t exist now on a iPhone. My wife and I were able to use and load phone-based suica cards without issue.
Apple has supported FeliCa globally since 2017. Android still doesn’t. It’s not a restriction someone can remove; the non-Japanese phones just don’t have either the hardware or license necessary.
That was a problem with foreign Visa cards only, no? AMEX and MasterCard worked. It was the same on Apple devices, but it might be fixed in the latest iOS update.
It's super easy but it's still an extra thing to do. For an occasional user such as a tourist it would be much better if you could use your existing payment instrument rather than having to buy a local, purpose-specific one.
Beg to disagree. I visited Japan as a tourist and even if you stay for two days the number of times you will use the subway in, say Tokyo makes the 2 minute setup totally superior to your credit card.
The name is also a bad pun; Sui-sui is onomatopoeia for smooth movement (like fish swimming), so it’s the card for moving smoothly. Also, suica means watermelon so the card is green.