Only a limited quantity of these cute Mt Fuji sakura cards will be available.
If you’ve ever visited Japan, you’ll know that the easiest way to get around on public transport is with a rechargeable prepaid IC card. In Tokyo, commuters can use either a Pasmo or Suica card on their journeys, tapping the card on touch panel screens when making their way in and out of ticket gates at stations and when boarding buses, doing their bit to keep the city’s busy transport system running efficiently.
While the green-and-silver Suica card comes with an adorable image of a penguin, the Pasmo card is somewhat less exciting to look at, coming with a picture of a small pink bus and train. Starting from Christmas Day, though, Pasmo will be winning in the design stakes, with a brand new Welcome to Kanto card that features some of Japan’s most iconic symbols.
The front of the card is entirely covered in an array of beautiful pink sakura cherry blossoms, with one cluster of flowers appearing next to the Pasmo logo, and a sea of trees in full bloom at the bottom. Rising in the background is Mt Fuji, while in the foreground is an image of a maneki neko, “beckoning cat”, which is believed to attract money when the right paw is raised, and when the left paw is raised: people, customers, and friends.
The fact that this lucky cat is holding up its left paw is quite apt, as this card has been designed to encourage people to visit the Kanto region, with its sights set specifically on international travellers. Kanto encompasses the Greater Tokyo Area and Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures, making the card especially useful while travelling around the capital and on day trips to neighbouring areas.
While PASMO cards can be used in major cities around the country, the Welcome to Kanto version serves to remind tourists of Tokyo’s surrounding areas that are just waiting to be explored. And as further incentive to travel outside of Tokyo, presenting the card at participating stores in the region will net the bearer a variety of special discounts and offers.
Only 30,000 of these cards will be available, and they can only be purchased by international travellers who can prove their tourist status by presenting their passport. The cards will cost 2,000 yen (US$17.95) each, which includes the 500 yen deposit fee usually incurred when buying a Pasmo or Suica card, plus 1,500 yen on the card to use during your travels.
The cards will be on sale from 25 December to 31 July, or until stocks last. For a full list of retail locations, take a look at the list we’ve prepared for you below. Happy travels!
Keisei Line (18,300 cards): Skyliner & Keisei Information Centre at Narita Airport station and Airport Terminal 2 station (open 7 a.m.-9 p.m.)
Keikyu Line (9,100 cards): Keikyu Tourist information Centre at Haneda Airport International Terminal station (7a.m.-10p.m.)
Tokyo Metro (1,500 cards): Ticket Offices at Ueno Station, Ginza Station, Shimbashi Station, Shinjuku Station, Tokyo Station (7:40 a.m.- 8:00 p.m.)
Toei Subway (800 cards): Ueno-okachimachi Station Tourist Information Centre (8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.); Tocho-Mae Station Stationmaster’s Office (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.)
Tokyu Dentetsu (300 cards): Shibuya Chikamichi Sogo Information “WANDER COMPASS SHIBUYA” at Shibuya Station’s Denentoshi Line and Tokyu Toyoko Line (10 a.m.-8:00 p.m.)
Source, images: Tokyo Metro