When your family takes trains or buses in Japan, each person needs a suitable ticket or travel card—children may need a different card from adults. Suica is a prepaid travel card: you put money on it and tap it at supported station gates and buses instead of buying a new local ticket for every ride. Welcome Suica is a visitor version from JR East (East Japan Railway Company), available as a physical card; eligible travellers can also use a phone-based version called Welcome Suica Mobile. The phone version is for people aged 13 or older and does not offer child fares, so a 9-year-old needs a physical child card. One parent's phone cannot be used as four independent cards just because the family shares an Apple account.
Here is the simplest case: two adults, a 9-year-old child and a 15-year-old teenager arriving at Narita or Haneda for a one-week trip. Give the iPhone-owning adult one mobile card, the Android-owning adult one adult physical card, the 9-year-old one child physical card with passport proof, and the 15-year-old an adult-fare card—mobile only if that teenager independently has the supported device and payment setup, otherwise physical. This is a practical allocation, not a claim that every tourist needs a JR East product or that a rail pass can be replaced by Suica.
A four-person family card decision, already worked out
| Traveller and device | Card to use | The key reason |
|---|---|---|
| Adult 1, compatible iPhone with a working payment card | Welcome Suica Mobile (one card on that device) | JR East offers its mobile visitor card on supported iOS/Apple Watch hardware. |
| Adult 2, Android phone | Adult physical Welcome Suica | The Welcome Suica Mobile app is iOS-focused; do not assume Android supports this particular app. |
| Child, 9 years old | Physical Welcome Suica (Child) with passport/ID | The mobile product has no child fare. JR East requires the child's ID at physical purchase, even if a parent buys it. |
| Teenager, 15 years old | Adult-fare physical or eligible personal mobile card | A 15-year-old is outside the normal child-card validity rule; mobile requires their own suitable device and payment setup. |
If both parents use Android, make the first two cards physical as well. If a parent's Apple Pay card is rejected, use a suitable physical card rather than keep trying multiple payments while the family waits at the barrier. If the child is around age 12, do not infer the fare merely from the birthday: JR East's physical child card can be used until 31 March following the child's 12th birthday, and its child qualification is linked to the railway school-year boundary. Confirm the exact age/school-year status at issuance. Using a child card after eligibility ends can incur an adult fare and additional penalty under JR East's rules.
Which product lasts how long?
| Feature | Physical Welcome Suica | Welcome Suica Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Ideal user | Adult without supported mobile device; eligible child needing child fare | User 13+, with supported iPhone or Apple Watch and payment setup |
| Published validity | 28 days including purchase date; invalid on day 29 | 180 days from issuance under the current mobile product |
| Child fare | Yes, on the designated child version | No child fare |
| How to load funds | Cash in yen at compatible ticket machines or Seven Bank ATMs | Card top-up through supported Apple Pay setup |
| Top-up failure plan | Use the compatible cash machine/ATM or speak to station staff | Check card/device/location settings; physical card is the practical alternate for a first-day trip |
| Refund of unused balance | Not available for visitor Welcome Suica | JR East's visitor mobile balance is not refunded and expires with the card |
The actual difference is significant for families leaving after seven days: the physical card's 28-day period or the mobile card's 180-day period does not make unspent money refundable. Avoid putting more than the family is likely to use on the last day. A physical card's printed GOOD THRU marking is not the 28-day validity date; keep the reference paper issued at purchase to see the actual period.
Real purchase amounts: four cards do not mean four deposits
JR East lists physical Welcome Suica starting purchase/loading amounts of ¥1,000, ¥2,000, ¥3,000, ¥4,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000 per adult or child card, with no additional deposit. These amounts are stored value, not a quoted fare for a Tokyo trip.
Worked low-commitment family start: suppose Adult 1 loads ¥2,000 on mobile, Adult 2 buys a physical card with ¥2,000, the 9-year-old gets a child card with ¥1,000, and the teenager gets an adult card with ¥2,000. The household has put ¥7,000 of usable starting value on four independent cards. This is a proposed initial loading allocation, not proof that ¥7,000 will cover every journey or that each ride costs the same. The child fare is calculated under the applicable transport operator's fare rules when tapping; the adult cards don't become cheaper because an adult shares a family budget.
If Adult 1's overseas payment card cannot top up Mobile at the airport, an alternative is a ¥2,000 physical adult Welcome Suica, yielding the same example household stored-value total ¥7,000. Bring some yen banknotes for physical top-ups. Do not promise that a specific foreign Visa/Mastercard will work with every Apple Pay account or overseas-issued card.
Where a family can actually get the physical cards
The JR East official purchasing page identifies JR East Travel Service Centers at Narita Airport Terminal 1, Terminal 2·3, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Tokyo Monorail, and larger Tokyo-area locations including Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ueno and Shibuya. It also lists relevant visitor card machines at the major airport stations and other named outlets. Not every station sells every version at every moment; stations shown as temporarily suspended are not alternatives to recommend without another check.
For a child card, bring the child's passport or qualifying ID. A parent can purchase on their behalf, but still needs proof of the child's age. The official machine asks for the child's date of birth. The child card expires when its age eligibility ends; the actual Welcome Suica physical 28-day period may end earlier.
Do not bring one adult phone and assume it can tap three children through the same gate. When each traveller carries a separate card, one person can enter and exit reliably without gate transaction conflicts.
Mobile setup and how to survive a failed top-up
Welcome Suica Mobile runs on eligible iPhones/Apple Watches; the JR East compatible list names iPhone XR/XS or later with iOS 17.2+, and supported Apple Watch models. Its FAQ calls for a card in the user's name. JR East also warns that service installation or top-up may be limited in some countries or until the device is in Japan; activating after arrival may be necessary.
A family failure scenario: the adult successfully downloads the app at home but the card will not issue at the airport. The other adult owns only Android and the 9-year-old needs a child fare. Continuing to troubleshoot one parent's Apple account will not solve the child's different fare eligibility. Take the passports to the JR East Travel Service Center and allocate three or four physical cards as needed. Buy amounts close to the first travel day's expected use, then add yen at an authorised top-up machine as needed. If an Apple Pay payment shows as pending, check its status before repeating it; JR East's own mobile support owns app/payment errors.
Under JR East's Apple ID requirements, the same mobile Suica cannot be shared across different devices, even if those devices use the same Apple ID. Each mobile user needs their own supported setup. If a phone is lost or its Apple Pay is disabled, consult the vendor recovery steps; the family should not rely on all four travel balances being on a single device.
Which fares and journeys does Suica actually cover?
Welcome Suica is useful for ordinary eligible local trains, buses and some shops displaying the compatible IC acceptance mark. It does not mean one card pays for every reserved Shinkansen seat, long-distance train reservation or separate discount pass. Check the specific service's required supplementary ticket when planning a complex itinerary.
If you're deciding whether to buy a Japan Rail Pass versus separate intercity tickets, read our worked Japan Rail Pass comparison. For travel with heavy suitcases, the hotel luggage-forwarding guide covers a different choice. This Suica guide only solves which member uses which local travel card and what happens when setup fails.
Your family decision today: write down each traveller's age, device and payment method, choose one eligible card per person, carry the child's ID, and reserve some cash for a physical backup. Mobile suits supported older travellers; a real child card suits child fare users; Android users have a physical route.