How to Use IC Cards (Suica & Pasmo) with Kids in Japan

TL;DR

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The Situation in Japan

If you’ve traveled with an Oyster card in London or a Navigo pass in Paris, Japan’s IC card system will feel familiar — tap in, tap out, fare deducted automatically. What’s different is the sheer number of card brands, and the fact that Japan draws a hard line between “child” and “adult” fares that most contactless payment methods simply can’t handle.

Since 2013, Japan has had 10 mutually compatible IC cards, issued by different regional operators but usable on almost any train, subway, or bus nationwide: Suica (JR East — Tokyo, Sendai, Niigata), Pasmo (Tokyo’s non-JR operators), ICOCA (JR West — Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima), TOICA (JR Central — Nagoya), manaca (Nagoya’s non-JR operators), Kitaca (JR Hokkaido — Sapporo), SUGOCA (JR Kyushu — Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Kagoshima), nimoca (Fukuoka-area private lines), Hayakaken (Fukuoka Subway), and PiTaPa (Kansai’s non-JR operators — postpaid, and not available to tourists). In practice, this means a Suica bought at Narita Airport will tap through gates in Osaka, Sapporo, and Fukuoka without any special setup. As of 2026/05 · Source: Japan Guide – Prepaid IC Cards

Where the compatibility has limits:

• PiTaPa is a postpaid card tied to a Japanese bank account — visitors should stick to the other nine

• A few smaller regional bus networks and remote-area operators outside the 10-card zone (parts of Shikoku, some rural lines) don’t accept any of these cards, so carry cash as backup

• Cards must be refunded through their issuing company — you can’t return a Suica at an ICOCA counter

The layer that trips families up is age. Japan splits fares into three brackets: children under 6 ride free (with a paying adult, usually up to two free per adult), children 6–11 pay exactly half fare, and everyone 12+ pays adult fare. IC cards enforce this automatically — but only if the card itself is set up as a child card. A credit card tap, an adult IC card, or an unregistered adult card will all charge a 6–11-year-old the full adult rate. It’s one of the more common ways families overpay on this trip, and it’s easy to avoid once you know the rule. For the general contactless-payment landscape in Tokyo (including the 2026 credit card tap rollout), see our Tokyo train system guide — this article focuses specifically on getting IC cards set up correctly for every age in your family.

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Step-by-Step: Setting Up IC Cards for Your Family

Step 1: Decide Who Needs a Physical Card

Not everyone in your family needs the same setup:

• Adults: Can use mobile Suica/Pasmo (Apple Wallet, or Google Wallet on FeliCa-compatible phones) or a physical card — both work everywhere.

• Children under 6: No card needed. They walk through the wide gate with you.

• Children 6–11: Need a child IC card — this is the only way to get the correct half-fare, and it must be a physical card obtained in person (either at a Welcome Suica vending machine or a staffed window).

• Children 12+: Are charged adult fare and can use a mobile wallet like any adult, once they have their own compatible phone/watch, or a standard adult physical card.

Step 2: Get an Adult IC Card

Adults have three easy options, and all can be started before you land:

Mobile Suica (Apple Wallet): Open the Wallet app, tap “+”, choose Suica, and load a starting balance with your credit card. This works from outside Japan — no Japanese Apple ID required. Works on iPhone 8 or later, and Apple Watch Series 3 or later.

Mobile Suica (Google Wallet): This one has a catch. Adding Suica to Google Wallet requires a phone with Osaifu-Keitai/FeliCa hardware — the contactless standard Japan’s transit system runs on, which is different from the standard NFC chip most non-Japanese Android phones ship with. Japan-market Android phones support it natively; most Android phones sold outside Japan do not, with some newer Google Pixel models as a partial exception. If you’re unsure whether your Android phone qualifies, plan on a physical card instead.

Physical IC card — two different products, worth telling apart:

• Welcome Suica / Tourist Pasmo (tourist-only products): Designed for short visits. No deposit, but the balance is non-refundable and the card deactivates 28 days after first use — spend it down before it expires. Welcome Suica is sold at JR East ticket machines and travel service counters at Narita and Haneda; Tourist Pasmo is a newer equivalent (launched 2026, replacing the discontinued Pasmo Passport) sold at Haneda, Narita, and some Tokyo Metro/Pasmo-area counters.

• Ordinary registered Suica/Pasmo: The same card residents use. Pay a ¥500 refundable deposit plus your starting balance; get the deposit back (and any remaining balance) when you return the card before leaving Japan. No expiry date. Available at JR East ticket machines, Tokyo Metro/Pasmo counters, and Narita/Haneda travel service counters.

For a family staying under a month, Welcome Suica/Tourist Pasmo is simpler for adults; for longer trips, or if you want the deposit back rather than treating it as a souvenir, get the registered version.

Keep ¥2,000–¥3,000 loaded per adult per day. Top-up machines with English menus are at every station, but plan on cash — most physical-card top-up machines don’t take credit cards (Mobile Suica in Apple Wallet is the main exception, since it can be topped up with a linked credit card from the Wallet app itself).

As of 2026/07 · Source: JR East – Suica, JR East – Welcome Suica, Tokyo Cheapo – Tourist Pasmo

Step 3: Get a Child IC Card

This step gets less coverage than it deserves — and it’s the one that actually saves you money.

A child IC card cannot be issued through a mobile wallet. Neither Apple Wallet nor Google Wallet offers a child card option — only adult cards. The system needs to verify the child’s age against an official document, which a phone can’t do on its own.

Two ways to get one, depending on which product you want:

Option A — Welcome Suica (Child), at a vending machine. JR East’s Welcome Suica ticket machines (at Narita, Haneda, and major Tokyo-area stations) can issue a child card without a staffed counter: select the child option, enter the child’s date of birth, and have their ID (passport works) ready to show for verification — a family member can complete the purchase, but staff or the machine process may still ask to see the child’s passport. Like adult Welcome Suica, this version has no deposit, expires 28 days after first use, and leaves any unused balance non-refundable.

Option B — an ordinary registered child Suica/Pasmo, at a staffed counter. For a longer stay, or if you’d rather get the deposit back, go to a staffed ticket window — JR East calls this the Midori no Madoguchi (green ticket counter). Tokyo Metro and Pasmo-issuing operators have equivalent staffed counters, and JR East Travel Service Centers at Narita and Haneda can also issue them. Bring the child’s passport, ask for a child IC card (“kodomo IC card”), and pay the same refundable deposit as an adult card (typically ¥500) plus a starting balance. This version has no expiry date and can be registered in the child’s name.

Either way, the age cutoff is the same: child fare applies through the school year in which the child is still 11 — specifically, until March 31 of the school year they turn 12 (Japan’s school year runs April–March, so this lines up with finishing elementary school, not the literal birthday). After that, the card needs to be exchanged for or replaced with an adult card.

As of 2026/07 · Source: JR East – Suica, JR East – Welcome Suica purchase guide

Step 4: Top Up and Manage Balances

Top-up machines (multi-language menus) are at every station, but bring cash — physical IC card top-up machines generally don’t accept credit cards, including for Welcome Suica. Convenience store registers (7-Eleven, Lawson, and others) can also top up a physical card with cash. A few practical habits:

• Keep at least ¥1,000 on each card, including kids’ cards, at the start of every day.

• The JR East Suica app (for registered mobile Suica) lets you check balances and top up without finding a machine.

• If a card runs low mid-journey, a fare adjustment machine (精算機) near the exit gates will top it up just enough to let you out.

Step 5: Register Cards Where Possible

This applies to ordinary Suica/Pasmo (Option B above), not to Welcome Suica or Tourist Pasmo. A registered (“My Suica”/named) card — one where you provided your name and birthdate at issue — can be reissued with its balance intact if lost. An anonymous ordinary card cannot; if it’s lost, the balance is simply gone. For children’s cards especially, ask staff to register the card in the child’s name when you set it up; it costs nothing extra. Welcome Suica and Tourist Pasmo are tourist products designed to be disposable — they aren’t registered to a name, so there’s no equivalent loss-recovery path for them regardless of how they were purchased.

As of 2026/07 · Source: MATCHA – Reissuing a Lost Suica Card

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The March 2026 Contactless Credit Card Rollout — Quick Summary

Since March 2026, a growing number of railway operators — starting with 11 across the Kanto region (Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Tokyu, and others) and expanding into Kansai and Kyushu — let adults tap a contactless credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay directly at fare gates instead of using an IC card. It’s a genuine convenience for adults on non-JR legs of a trip.

For families, the two things that matter most: most JR lines are excluded (the Yamanote Line and most other JR services still require an IC card or paper ticket), and it charges every rider full adult fare — there’s no child-fare mode for credit card tap anywhere in Japan, so a 6–11-year-old still needs a child IC card to get the correct half-price fare.

For the fuller rundown — operator and station counts, how to spot the right gate, regional coverage — see the contactless-payment section of our Tokyo train system guide, which covers it in more depth.

As of 2026/07 · Source: Toei Subway – Tap-and-go Credit Card Payment

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A Third Option in Tokyo: The QR Code Day Pass

There’s a third way to pay for a ride in Tokyo besides an IC card or a credit card tap: the Tokyo Subway Ticket, a QR-code day pass bought entirely on your phone. No physical card, no vending machine, no deposit — you buy it in advance, and at the gate you hold your phone to the QR reader panel instead of tapping.

The catch that matters for this article: it only covers Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway — not JR, and not the other private railways (Tokyu, Odakyu, Keio, and the rest). Everything else in this article is about the 10 nationwide IC cards, which work on JR and outside Tokyo too; the QR pass doesn’t replace that.

Does it make sense for a family instead of an IC card? As a supplement, often yes — as a full replacement, rarely. If you’ve got a day (or two or three) of intensive sightseeing that’s almost entirely on Metro/Toei lines, the flat-rate pass can be cheaper than tapping in and out on individual fares, and skipping IC card setup for that stretch is one less thing to manage. But the moment your itinerary touches the Yamanote Line, a JR airport train, or anywhere outside Tokyo, you’re back to needing an IC card — so most families are better off getting IC cards for everyone first, then layering a QR pass on top only for a specific Metro/Toei-heavy day.

Does child pricing apply? Yes, discounted child passes exist alongside the adult ones. For the full price table, the tourist-passport requirement on the multi-day passes (the Metro-only 24-hour pass has no such restriction), and how to use it at the gate, see the “Option C: QR Code Day Pass” section of our Tokyo train system guide — that’s the fuller writeup, since this article’s focus is the nationwide IC card system.

As of 2026/07 · Source: Tokyo Metro – Tokyo Subway Ticket

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Best Options Compared

Option	Setup required	Works on JR	Correct child fare (6–11)	Deposit / balance	Best for
Mobile Suica (Apple Wallet, adult)	Minutes, from your phone, before arrival	Yes	No (adults only)	None	Adults who want zero hassle
Mobile Suica (Google Wallet, adult)	Minutes — but only on FeliCa/Osaifu-Keitai-compatible phones	Yes	No (adults only)	None	Adults with a Japan-market or FeliCa-capable Android phone
Welcome Suica / Tourist Pasmo (adult or child)	Vending machine or counter, no staffed window strictly required	Yes	Yes, if the child version is selected	No deposit; balance non-refundable, expires 28 days after first use	Short trips (under a month)
Ordinary registered adult IC card	Machine or window, few minutes	Yes	No	~¥500, refundable	Adults without a compatible phone, longer stays
Ordinary registered child IC card	In-person, staffed window, passport required	Yes	Yes	~¥500, refundable	Longer trips, or if you want the deposit back
Credit card tap	None	No (most JR excluded)	No	None	Adults on non-JR lines only
QR code day pass (Tokyo Subway Ticket)	Bought on your phone in advance, no physical card	No (Tokyo Metro + Toei Subway only)	Yes, discounted child pass available	None (flat-rate pass, not a deposit card)	A Metro/Toei-heavy sightseeing day in Tokyo, alongside (not instead of) an IC card
Paper ticket	Ticket machine each trip	Yes	Yes (child ticket button)	None	Occasional single rides, backup when cards run out

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Common Mistakes Families Make

1. Trying to set up a child IC card through a mobile wallet

Parents naturally assume that if adult Suica works in Apple Wallet, a child version should too. It doesn’t — a child card always has to be purchased as a physical card, either at a Welcome Suica vending machine (with the child’s ID ready) or at a staffed ticket window. Budget time for this on day one instead of discovering it at a fare gate.

2. Assuming credit card tap works for kids

One of the more expensive mistakes on this list. If a 6–11-year-old taps a credit card (yours or their own), they’re charged full adult fare every time — and since fare-gate records are treated as final, there’s generally no route to a refund once the trip is logged. Get them a child IC card before you rely on tap-to-ride as a family.

3. Forgetting the deposit refund before leaving Japan

This applies to ordinary registered Suica/Pasmo, not Welcome Suica or Tourist Pasmo (which have no deposit to begin with). The ¥500 (or similar) deposit on a registered physical IC card is refundable, but only through the issuing company’s own stations — a Suica must be refunded at a JR East counter, not at a Kansai ICOCA counter, for example. Plan your refund stop before your last JR East station of the trip, especially if you’re flying out of an airport where the issuing operator has no counter (Suica specifically cannot be refunded at Haneda).

4. Not registering an ordinary child card in the child’s name

An unregistered ordinary card that gets lost on a crowded platform is simply gone, balance included — registering it costs nothing and takes two minutes at the same window where you get the card issued. Note this only applies to ordinary registered Suica/Pasmo; Welcome Suica and Tourist Pasmo aren’t name-registered and don’t have an equivalent recovery option.

5. Assuming one IC card region works exactly like another

The 10 cards are interoperable for payment, but regional rules can differ slightly — for example, some regional operators only allow one free child under 6 per adult instead of Tokyo’s usual two. If you’re island-hopping across regions, don’t assume every rule from Tokyo travels with you.

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FAQ

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Plan Your Journey with Confidence

Now that your family’s cards are sorted, here’s what to tackle next:

→ Navigating Tokyo’s Train System with Kids: A First-Timer’s Guide — the full walkthrough of gates, platforms, and stroller spaces once your cards are ready

Also useful:

• Getting Around Japan with a Stroller: What Nobody Tells You

• Tokyo from Narita Airport with Kids: The Easiest Way

• Tokyo from Haneda Airport with Kids: Step-by-Step Guide

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Last updated: May 2026