THANK YOU EVERYONE!
The video is very helpful, although the long line to the JR ticket office scares me at first!
So hit the ATM first to get the Yen, then go to the machine to buy the Suica. Though IIRC the Japanese banks ATMs at NRT also take foreign cards - it is only inside the city we need to use 7-11s.
I do believe now the Pasmo are integrated into the system as on the net many travel blogs mention you can use it pretty much anywhere in main islands of Japan incl Kyushu. Though I believe it is useless in Okinawa where we will go after the first 3 days pit stop at Osaka.