Regarding Hiroshima, PASPY and ICOCA are the only options for getting around town and on the airport bus, correct? I already have a PASMO card, but will need to buy an IC card upon arrival in Kyoto for my girlfriend, so wondering if I shouldn't pick an ICOCA up for myself as well to avoid the hassle of buying tickets for a short day trip.

Using ICOCA in Tokyo?
 

Really? So if I get the Haruka/ICOCA combo for Kyoto/Osaka, I can keep the ICOCA and reload it in Tokyo? That would be very convenient!

You only need one IC card in Japan so yes you can use your Icoca in Tokyo, Sapporo, Hiroshima, indeed almost everywhere and now even on kyoto buses (at last)

But you can't use IC cards other than PASPY and ICOCA on non-JR transport in Hiroshima, correct?

Yes you are right: as I have only an ICOCA I was not aware of this non compatibility issue but on checking you are correct.

Fiirst day strategy in Japan
 

I believe that I can only use cash to buy an suica card when I arrive at NARITA. I understand Suica cannot be used on the Narita express, so I will have to buy a separate ticket. Are these assumptions correct?

If so I plan to purchase a Suica at Narita iand put 10,000 yen on it so I can use it for subway trips in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukukoka. In addition, I plan to buy food at stations in Tokyo, Niigata, Akita, Osaka., and a few others. Is this a good plan for using the Suica?

To do this I would have to an ATM before going to the Japan rail office at NRT.

Thank you.

Not sure about all your questions, but yes, before you go to the JR Office, there are ATMs and a money exchange window in the arrivals lobbies of both terminals. As a foreign visitor, look for Citibank or 7-Bank terminals. I found a 7-Bank terminal at the far left end of the arrivals lobby of Terminal 1 on my last trip in 2014.

The suica map seems to indicate that one could use suica from Narita to shinjuku. Is this the case?

Yes, it's possible to do so without buying a seperate ticket like you would for the NEX. Take the Keisei Sky Access Express to Shinagawa or Shimbashi and transfer to the Yamanote line.

Will you be using a Japan Rail Pass？ If so,the pass is good for use on Narita Express. Just get a reserved seat when you get your railpass at Narita. You can also get Narita Express tickets using your Suica at the ticket booth.

I want to start the rail pass on the following day so I would buy the suica to use on the Narita express. I would stop at the atm to get yen to load the suica. I would validate my rail pass and make reservations for subsequent trips on the following day. Then I would use my yen to load the suica and then go tap into the system to ride the Narita express to shinjuku. Is this the best way to do this? Thank you

I think it is the least stressful way to get to Shinjuku from Narita after along flight.

Thank you for your assistance with all of this. Having a clear plan once I get off of the plane makes it easier to do things efficiently.

You could use the Suica card to cover the base fare between Narita Airport and your destination, however if you intend to use the NEX, you still need to get a separate express fee ticket+seat reservation. The Suica card itself is not valid to ride on the NEX, it only covers the rails that the NEX rides on, so you still need the additional ticket.

JR tickets are broken into:
BASE FARE (the cost from point A to point B)
Express Fee (essentially the service charge to use a faster train like the Narita Express)
Seat Fee (the cost of a seat reservation, all Narita Express trains are reserved).

If you use the slower commuter trains between Narita Airport and Tokyo area, then you only pay the base fare. But trains like the Narita Express and Keisei Skyliner require an additional ticket/fee.

The Suica card will cover the base fare, but you still need to purchase a separate ticket (as I mentioned above, for the NEX, the express and seat reservation are combined into one).

So if you do want to use your suica card from Narita, you have to go through the extra step of explaining to the staff you want to use the Suica and only need an express/seat reservation.

Or keep things simple, just get ONE ticket that consists of the base fare, express/seat fee and use the Suica card later.

Railroadtycoon. Thank you. That clears it up. I'll follow your advice.

+1 to rrt above.

Any extra cash you might save using one of the more convoluted methods would be offset by the sheer hassle. You would be far better off just paying for your N'Ex ticket at the same time you activate your Rail Pass at the JR office at NRT. You will be there anyway and you can use a credit card for that purchase if you want to avoid cash. I suggest having some extra cash in pocket when you leave NRT but you shouldn't need much if you intend to use Suica for most purchases. Considering the disparate destinations in your itinerary, you are almost certain to run across someplace the card won't work.

And I would strongly suggest avoiding any route to the City that would take you onto the Yamanote Line if you have much luggage.

Is it possible to buy the suica card at nrt using a credit card? Then use yen to refill periodically later in the trip? Thank you for the detailed responses.

No you can't purchase a Suica or Pasmo with a credit card. There used to be a workaround with the Suica&NEX package, but that is no longer available.

You can buy a Suica card at the vending machines with cash. Remember there is a 500 yen deposit to get the card. When you buy at the vending machines, you also have an option to "register" your card, which will record your name, birthday etc, in case you lose the card you can get a replacement card minus a service charge of issuing a new card. If you had an unregistered card and lost it, then you're out of luck.

That's what I thought.
 

Ok. That's what I originally thought. How much do you recommend putting on there?

It depends on how long you will be in Tokyo and how much you plan to ride the subways.

Subway tickets within the metro area start at 170 yen and go up to 310 yen. (The subways and private rail lines are more useful in Tokyo than the JR lines are, but you can use the Suica for both.) Some of the subways turn into above-ground trains in the suburbs and cost more, but you are unlikely to go to any of these places as a first-timer.

I generally start with ¥5,000, but you if you run low, you can add value at the machines found in every subway and train station.

If Tokyo is your first stop, don't validate your JR Pass until you are ready to leave and just use the Suica for everything.

On my 2012 trip, I arrived at NRT one evening, paid cash for the N'EX to Shinagawa, spent the night there, and got up early the next morning to validate my JR Pass and take the first leg of a trip to a conference in Hiroshima. (As a passholder, I couldn't take the fastest Nozomi train directly to Hiroshima but had to change at Shin-Osaka, which involved standing on the same platform for all of 10 minutes.) After the conference was over, I used the Pass to tour the island of Shikoku and visit some clients in Osaka. Then I headed back to Tokyo, where I used my Suica to take the subways and other trains to various places in the metro area and the remaining days of the JR Pass to take two long-distance excursions northward. Finally, I took the Skyliner back to NRT.

That will work. Thank you

As an aside, there's one suburban station some people will want to keep in mind- Ogikubo. If you have an AmEx card from home and lose it while in Tokyo, AmEx Japan will issue you a replacement card that day if you report it before... noon-ish, and that's where you go to pick up your replacement card.

I remember because I lost my wallet the first time I went to Tokyo alone.

When was that though? I thought they had closed their office years ago.

The last time I had to do it was last summer (I remember quite well because I only found out upon check-in at my hotel that I'd left my wallet on the plane and oh, boy that was a hassle) so if it closed, it wasn't "years ago".

Speaking of which, JAL were great about the left-behind wallet. Someone turned it in while the plane was on its way to ITM, they quickly sent it back on the next morning's ITM-NRT flight and it was waiting for me when I checked in for my flight home from NRT. Meanwhile AmEx (and my Mobile Suica) got me by until I got my wallet back.

Not trying to slam anyone or cause embarrassment but am genuinely curious. How does it happen that one can leave his/her wallet on a plane on an international flight?

It was domestic. This trip wasn't the one I'd mentioned earlier in another thread; it was HIJ-HND(overnight)NRT-YVR. I didn't notice because unlike most tourists, I have Mobile Suica on my phone, and that was how I paid for pretty much everything between HND and my hotel- train fare, snacks, drinks, some shopping, and when my balance ran low I just tapped the "quick reload" button and it pulled funds from the card I'd linked before.

Having Mobile Suica made it too easy, else I'd have noticed my missing wallet much earlier, like when I tried to board the train leaving HND (I keep all cards in my wallet, so I would've noticed then) or at Shinagawa, where my Suica ran low, because you need cash to reload a regular Suica, and all my cash was in my wallet.

Is it possible for non-Japanese resident to get Mobile Suica on phone?

Yes, it is. There are only two things you need to set up Mobile Suica:

1. Japanese Play Store account

2. FeliCa-enabled phone

I have both without residence in Japan. Before smartphones (and still these days with regular keitai), the big hurdle was that the application refused to activate without a Japanese SIM inserted in the phone. With the smartphone app, this is no longer the case; so long as you're using a Japan-market phone you can set one up.

In the early days of the smartphone app, they also allowed credit cards from anywhere to be used for Mobile Suica reload so long as you paid the 1000 yen annual fee. Something changed last year and now the only foreign cards they allow are AmEx and JCB.

I have a suica card from a previous Tokyo trip. I've been told I can use it in Osaka on both JR/Non JR lines, but does this also include the Nankai Airport train from Namba?

I would assume that for 1 - it is Google Play for Japan. Which phones would fit for #2? Any NFC phone would work?

Hm, ability to top up with foreign card would be a major plus sign...

Yes you can, just make sure you buy the separate express fare ticket from the vending machine if you're taking the rapi:t.

Yes to the first, unfortunately not to #2. It has to be a Japanese-market phone with the FeliCa function specifically, the app doesn't work with standard NFC yet. I like to think they'll make it happen in time for the 2020 Olympics, but even if they do, that's a long way off.

It is, it's just unfortunate that they limit it to AmEx and JCB now.

There is an app in the iPhone store. I downloaded it but it was in Japanese. I wasn't able to switch it to English. And I don't have FeliCa.

If it's this app, it only adds money to an existing Suica card. Also, from the iTunes store page:

The iPhone app is no good for non-residents (and even a good chunk of residents; not everyone in Japan wants credit cards) because it requires you have the JR East credit card to function (on the app that functions on more phones internationally? Really, JR East?). The Android app lets you use any Japan-issued Visa or MasterCard or any AmEx or JCB card- so long as your phone supports FeliCa.