is a Japanese rechargeable contactless

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

ticketing system for public transport in

Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamo ...

and environs. The Kyūshū Railway Company (JR Kyūshū) introduced the system on 1 March 2009. The name is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in '' NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, a ...

of "Smart Urban GOing CArd", while in the local Kyūshū dialect means "great". Like other electronic fare collection systems in Japan, the card uses

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electroma ...

technology developed by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Corporation, known as

FeliCa FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for ''Felicity Card''. First utilized in the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, the technology is used in a variety of card ...

. American graphic artist Rodney Greenblat designed its official mascot, a frog with a clock. Iccard

On March 13, 2010, SUGOCA has been interoperated with two similar cards in Fukuoka—namely

nimoca Nimoka, stylized as , is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu) introduced the system on May 18, 2008. Its name is an acronym of "nice money ...

Nishi-Nippon Railroad The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefectur ...

(Nishitetsu) and Hayakaken from

Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau The serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line). The lines are operated by the Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau. Unlike most other public operators in Ja ...

—plus

Suica is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card, electronic money used as a fare card on train lines in Japan, launched on November 18, 2001. The card can be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA in the Kansai region and San'yō region ...

, a card used in

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as th ...

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

(JR East). Additionally, since March 5, 2011, in a reciprocal agreement with Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West), SUGOCA is also usable in

Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,74 ...

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

- Hiroshima and Nagoya metropolitan areas. Similarly, the

TOICA is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for JR Central railway network which was introduced in the Chūkyō Area (Greater Nagoya) of Japan on November 25, 2006. The name is an acronym for '' Tōkai IC Card''.ICOCA The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on the JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe (Keihanshin). I ...

card of JR West can also be used on JR Kyushu rail services.

Usable area

SUGOCA was implemented on March 1, 2009, in 124 JR stations in

, mainly in the

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center ...

Kitakyūshū is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one o ...

area. As of 2022 it's usable in a total of 124 stations of below lines. *

Chikuhi Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, Japan, connecting Meinohama Station in Fukuoka, Fukuoka (and via a subway through service, Fukuoka itself) to Karatsu Station in Karatsu, Saga, and from Yamamoto Station in Karatsu to Imari Station in Imari, ...

: Meinohama to Karatsu * Chikuhō Main Line: ( Fukuhoku Yutaka Line, Wakamatsu Line): Wakamatsu to Keisen * Hohi Main Line:

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,0 ...

to Higo-Ōzu, and Nakahanda to Ōita **de facto allow travelling between Higo-Ōzu and Naka-Handa if no alights of train on halfway stations *

Ibusuki Makurazaki Line The is a railway line in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Kagoshima-Chūō Station in Kagoshima, to Makurazaki Station in Makurazaki, paralleling the eastern and southern coasts of Sa ...

: Kagoshima-Chūō to Kiire *

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it extended 393 km between its t ...

: Mojikō to

Yatsushiro is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Geography Located at the geographic center of Kyushu, Yatsushiro City is situated on the aptly named Yatsushiro Sea in between Kumamoto and Ashikita City. Climate Yatsushiro has a humid subt ...

, and

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

(the currently whole line) *

Karatsu Line The is a regional railway line in Saga Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects in Saga City to in Karatsu City, both in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The line was originally constructed to carry coal ...

: Karatsu to Nishi-Karatsu * Kashii Line (Umi-no-Nakamichi Line): the whole line * Kyudai Main Line:

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (from ...

to Zendōji, and Mukainoharu to Ōita **de facto allow travelling between Zendōji and Mukainoharu if no alights of train on halfway stations * Miyazaki Kuko Line: the whole line *

Nagasaki Main Line The , or simply Nagasaki Line, is a railway line owned by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) connecting Tosu Station in Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. There is a separate branch of this line from Kikits ...

: Tosu to

Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Pl ...

, and

Isahaya is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on September 1, 1940. As of November 1, 2022, the city has an estimated population of 132,385 and a population density of 389 persons per km². The total area is . On March 1 ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in th ...

(includes Nagayo branch) **scheduled to implement supports for Saga to Kōhoku section by 2024 *

Nichinan Line The is a railway line in south-eastern Kyushu, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Minami-Miyazaki Station in Miyazaki, Miyazaki to Shibushi Station in Shibushi, Kagoshima. History The Miyazaki Prefectural Gover ...

: Minami-Miyazaki to Tayoshi *

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima via the east coast of Kyushu, passing through the ...

: Nishi-Kokura to Kōzaki, Sadowara to Tano, and

Kokubu was a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1955. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 55,237 and the density of 450.88 persons per km². The total area was 122.51 km². On November 7, 2 ...

to Kagoshima (except for Ryūgamizu) *

Omura Line Omura (小村) or Ōmura (大村) are Japanese surnames, but may also refer to: * Ōmura, Nagasaki, a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan * Omura's whale (''Balaenoptera omurai''), a species of rorqual about which very little is known Peopl ...

: Isahaya to Takematsu **scheduled to implement supports for Haiki to

Huis Ten Bosch Huis ten Bosch ( nl, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, ; English: "House in the Woods") is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague an ...

section by 2024 *

Sanyō Main Line , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded ...

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsush ...

Moji Moji may refer to: * ''Onji'' or ''hyōon moji'' (表音文字), phonic characters used in counting beats in Japanese poetry * Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, ward (district) of the city of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan ** Moji Station in that wa ...

(the whole line of JR Kyushu operation) * Sasaguri Line (Fukuhoku Yutaka Line): the whole line *'' Sasebo Line (from 2024): the whole line''

Types of cards

There are currently three types of cards available. The SUGOCA ticket is available as either an Unregistered card, or as a Registered card, where the card can be reissued when lost. The second is the SUGOCA commuter pass (which requires registration), and the Excell pass, which can be used for non-reserved seats of

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a commo ...

es. The third form is the mono SUGOCA, which is functionally identical to the normal SUGOCA pass, but is patterned differently for the

Kitakyushu Monorail The is a monorail system in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by . The is the only line. It runs the 8.8 km (5.5 mi) between Kokura station and Kikugaoka station in Kokura Minami ward in about 18 minutes. ...

. It was issued starting October 1, 2015.

Extended functionality

The card is also usable as an

electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

or cashless card in a few stores in Fukuoka prefecture, or to purchase beverages at some drink machines. It will eventually be usable in all '

ampm ''ampm'' (rarely "am/pm") is a convenience store chain with branches located in several U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and in several countries such as Costa Rica and Brazil. The brand pulled out of t ...

' convenience stores in Kyūshū. From July 22, 2014, Pasmo cards can be used to pay for

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

digital video games with the NFC function of the

Wii U GamePad The Wii U GamePad is the standard game controller for Nintendo's Wii U home video game console. Incorporating traits from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods (such as buttons, dual analog sticks, and a D-pad), touchscree ...

.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Fukuoka transit Fare collection systems in Japan Contactless smart cards Smart cards introduced in 2009 2009 establishments in Japan

Usable area

Types of cards

Extended functionality

See also

References

External links