Recent developments in IC card tickets in Japan

摘要

JR East, Japan's largest passenger railway company, introduced its integrated circuit (IC) card ticket system, "Suica," (Super Urban Intelligent Card) in November 2001. The number of people holding Suica cards has increased steadily since that date, rising from 5 million in October 2002, to more than 8 million in February 2004, to currently stand at almost 10 million. The success of these cards at JR East was quite possibly a turning point in ICT use in Japan.