JR East will resume issuing Suica cards — which have been unavailable since last year due to a chip shortage — as early as this fall, the railway operator said Wednesday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/07/japan/jr-east-suica-resume-production/ #japan #rail #tourism #suica #pasmo #jreast

Why don't they just promote #Suica or #Pasmo on iPhones instead?

"UPDATE: JR East Japan Has Resumed Selling Regular SUICA Cards To Foreign Tourists (At Select Stations)"

https://loyaltylobby.com/2024/02/25/update-jr-east-japan-has-resumed-selling-suica-cards-to-foreign-tourists-at-select-stations/

Well erm now what:

Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely - Japan Today

https://japantoday.com/category/national/sales-of-japan%E2%80%99s-most-convenient-train-ticket-shopping-payment-cards-suspended-indefinitely

> When arriving in Japan, ordinarily one of the first things you’d want to do is to get yourself a Suica card. As of Wednesday, though, that’s not an option, as sales of the rechargeable e-money card, issued by East Japan Railway (JR East), have been suspended…

Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
#suica #pasmo

https://soranews24.com/2023/08/02/sales-of-japans-most-convenient-train-ticket-shopping-payment-cards-suspended-indefinitely/

It only took a couple of months after #PASMO announced they'd be supporting #ApplePay / #AppleWallet for them to actually launch it, so if #ICOCA were to follow roughly the same timeline then in theory it could launch as soon as next week (their announcement was on 17 April).

But that assumes they've already been working on it long before the announcement. They seemed a bit on the back foot when originally quizzed about it. If not, maybe another few months? Time will tell!

Train operators in eastern Japan will suspend sales of some Suica and Pasmo rechargeable transportation cards starting on June 8 due to a shortage of the chips needed to make them. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/06/02/national/suica-pasmo-sales-suspension/?utm_content=buffere16b2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=bffmstdn #news #japan #rail #tourism #suica #pasmo #jreast