That’s a really pity if travelers to Japan don’t know free transport IC cards like PASMO or Suica for their comfortable moves during the stays. The last article that roughly explained the advantages of the smart cards, had quite good responses from the readers, and I do appreciate it.
For travelers who are not familiar with Japanese transportation, I show how to get a PASMO with actual photos taken at a station the other day.
The first PASMO includes 500 yen refundable deposit
You can choose how much you’d like to charge from minimum 1000 yen to maximum 10000 yen including the deposit for the first purchase, and the 6 steps on the touchscreen of ticket machines is not so difficult because of the multilingual supports. Anyway, look over the procedure with the photos below beforehand not to be upset in front of ticket machines.
1, Language
2, English
3, PASMO
4, Purchase new PASMO
5, Blank PASMO
6, How much
How about the expiration date and the balance?
As two important points of PASMO, you should remember that the expiration date of PASMO sets 10 years since you use it the last time, and the all balance and 500 yen deposit are refunded when turning back your cards.
I picked up PASMO as an example of transport IC cards this time, but you also get a kind of the smart cards like Suica by the almost same procedure. Ask station clerks anything if you have a trouble on the purchase. Have a nice trip!
