EAST Japan Railway inaugurated Suica contactless smart cards at 424 stations in greater Tokyo on November 18. The railway developed the smart cards with Sony.

Two types are currently available. The first is a season ticket, with a stored value of up to ´10000. The costs of any extra journeys made beyond the ticket's validity are automatically deducted. A central computer management system from Hitachi holds the name, date of birth and sex of the season ticket holders, allowing lost or stolen cards to be cancelled and the stored value credited to a new card. Four million are being issued, as existing tickets are replaced or on request. The second design is a simple stored value card, from which fares are deducted after each trip.

JR East expects other companies to adopt Suica, including shops. Tokyo Monorail is to introduce Suica later this year. To encourage take-up, JR East plans to combine the smart cards with its own credit card. The railway also plans to develop technology to allow mobile phones to be used as Suica tickets.