Suica/Pasmo, Shinkansen, Luggage Storage

Hi,

Will be arriving on Saturday, 4 April 2014 (9am) at Haneda Airport and planning to go straight to Kyoto via Shinkansen. A few questions regarding travel;

1. from research, it is said that Suica and Pasmo basically are the same, and can be used for the areas i will be travelling (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe). Kindly advise which should i buy? SUICA or PASMO for convenient usage in all those areas?

2. If need to buy SUICA, based on my research i must go to the Haneda International Building to purchase SUICA as it is not available at the Haneda Keikyu Line station, was wondering whether i should just buy a one-way ticket to Shinagawa Station via the Keikyu Line and purchase the Suica card at the Shinagawa station instead? Will there be SUICA card vending machine available for me to purchase SUICA at the Shinagawa station?

3. The j-guide's page on prepaid IC card stated that;

"No Travel outside or between IC card areas; the origin and destination stations have to be located inside the IC card's coverage area. Furthermore, it is not possible to use an IC card to travel between disjoined IC card areas. For example, you cannot use it to travel between Tokyo and Sendai or between Tokyo and Nagoya."

Does this mean that if i wish to go to Sannomiya-Kobe Subway Station from Shijo Station in Kyoto, i am not able to use the SUICA/PASMO card to pay for my tickets?

4. in regards to purchasing shinkansen tickets for Kyoto? i should just go to the Midori-no-madoguchi counters at the Shinagawa station, correct?

4. I will be returning to Tokyo on Tuesday, 7 April and since my rental apartment won't be ready for check in before 4 pm, kindly advise where should i stop if i wish to store my medium-sized luggage in the station; planning to go sightseeing Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku while waiting for check in. Should i store the luggage in Tokyo Station or Shinagawa or Shibuya or Shinjuku? which station would provide me with enough options to store my medium-sized luggage.

Any insights regarding these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mela

1. From a "tourist" perspective, you can consider them identical. Buy whichever one you come across first.

2. At Haneda, you can buy a Suica at the vending machines next to the JR ticket office (where there will probably be people exchanging JR Passes, etc.). I don't know about Shinagawa.

3. Kyoto and Kobe are considered to belong in the same "zone", so you can use your Pasmo/Suica to go from one to the other.

4. Going to the ticket office is possible, there are also vending machines who speak English.

5. You will find more than enough coin lockers in pretty much every station, no need to worry about that.

Thanks for the insights!

:)

Mela

An English speaking ticket vending machine!

Now that's a first for me.

Yes on the luggage storage. Although, during peak seasons like autumn you might have to leave your luggage at a hotel or at the luggage room.
Or TAKYUBin it

Hello!! Here are some thoughts as I vacationed in Japan in November.

1. I too landed in Haneda Airport (international terminal). When you exit the arrivals the JR office is to the end and to the left. They speak English and they can sell you the SUICA card. No need to buy Pasmo unless you want it as a souvenir.

2. Use the SUICA card to get into the Keikyu Main Line. No need to buy any tickets. Just tap the card on the turnstile and away you go.

3. When you take the Keikyu Line be careful which train to take. My friend and I ended up taking the local service which stopped on all stations to Shinagawa. It wasn't bad just long.

4. When you are in Kyoto, the public buses do not accept SUICA card. You can either buy a 1-day pass for 500 yen or just use exact fare. If you don't have exact fare there is a change machine. Put in 1000 yen note and it will give you change back.

5. You can purchase one-way Shinkansen tickets in Shinagawa and Kyoto. I prefer the JR office to buy the tickets, but I seen on Youtube that its so easy to buy them at the machines. In Shinagawa I went to the north entrance JR office.

6. I personally saw lockers in Tokyo and Shibuya and there is a pretty wide selection. However in Shibuya it is a bit of a construction site and it is a little confusing to find your way.

Hope you have fun

Just as a follow up to the message I sent, apparently Kyoto Bus now accepts SUICA card. So no more looking for change.

Thanks!

Shinagawa is a major rail hub and has a separate ticket office and a wall of ATMs just for Shinkansen tickets. Yes, the ATMs do speak English, but if you are nervous, just write the details clearly on a piece of paper for the staff at the ticket office. Shinagawa also has a lot of lockers inside the station. I seem to remember a lot of lockers outside Shibuya station, although I'm sure they will have had indoor ones too. They are of different sizes, so someone maybe could help out on sizes/where the bigger ones are.