SUGOCA () is a Japanese rechargeable contactless

smart card A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

ticketing system for public transport in and around

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

. The

Kyushu Railway Company The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle (JR Kyushu), Beetle hydrofoil service across th ...

(JR Kyushu) introduced the system on March 1, 2009. The name come from "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 called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

technology developed by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Corporation, known as FeliCa. American graphic artist Rodney Alan Greenblat designed its official mascot, a frog with a clock. Iccard

On March 13, 2010, SUGOCA began interoperation with

Nishitetsu 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 Prefecture. It ...

's nimoca, Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau's Hayakaken, and

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 are in ...

's Suica. On March 5, 2011, in a reciprocal agreement with

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

and

JR West , 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, ...

, SUGOCA became usable in the

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 19,302,746 o ...

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

and Nagoya metropolitan areas. In 2013, interoperation was extended country-wide, and SUGOCA became usable in all major cities across Japan as part of the Nationwide Mutual Usage Service.

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 and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

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: Meinohama to Karatsu *

Chikuhō Main Line The is a railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Wakamatsu Station in Kitakyushu with Haruda Station in Chikushino, Fukuoka, Chikushino. Between Orio Station and Haruda Station, as ...

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

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, 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 populat ...

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: Kagoshima-Chūō to Kiire *

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

: Mojikō to Yatsushiro, and

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

(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, Saga, Saga City to in Karatsu, Saga, Karatsu City, both in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The line was originally ...

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

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

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: Tosu to

Saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

, and Isahaya to

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

(includes Nagayo branch) **scheduled to implement supports for Saga to Kōhoku section by 2024 * Nichinan Line: Minami-Miyazaki to Tayoshi *

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

: Nishi-Kokura to Kōzaki, Sadowara to Tano, and Kokubu to Kagoshima (except for Ryūgamizu) * Omura Line: Isahaya to Takematsu **scheduled to implement supports for Haiki to

Huis Ten Bosch Huis ten Bosch (, ; ) 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 and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Huis ten Bosch was th ...

section by 2024 *

Sanyō Main Line is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bu ...

Shimonoseki file:141122 Shimonoseki City Hall Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3.jpg, 260px, Shimonoseki city hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a pop ...

to Moji (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 is available as either an unregistered or registered card (allowing riders' cards to be reissued if lost). The second is the , which requires registration. The third is which can be used for non-reserved seats of

limited express A limited express is a type of express train or express bus service that stops at fewer locations compared to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common translation of the Japanese ...

trains. Other SUGOCA variants and designs exist, such as the Mono SUGOCA, functionally identical to the normal SUGOCA but featuring a design of the Kitakyushu Monorail's

Kokura Station in Kokurakita-ku is the main railway station in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is part of the JR Kyushu network and the San'yō Shinkansen stops here. It is the second largest station in Kyushu with 120,000 users daily. In the late 1990s, the Kokura sta ...

. It was issued starting October 1, 2015. On January 23, 2020, JR Kyushu unveiled SUGOMON Pass, a SUGOCA variant designed for use by tourists to Japan. The card's design features

Kumamon Kumamon is a mascot created by the government of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was created in 2010 for a campaign created to draw tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened. Kumamon subsequently became nationally popular, an ...

, the official mascot of

. Unlike JR East's similar Welcome Suica for tourists, SUGOMON Pass has no expiry date and is refundable with a 220 handling fee.

Extended functionality

SUGOCA's functionality includes

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 ...

and can be used at stores in Fukuoka Prefecture and at vending machines and

convenience stores A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lottery t ...

nationwide. Part of the Nationwide Mutual Usage Service, SUGOCA is usable on

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ation across Japan.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Fare collection systems in Japan Contactless smart cards Smart cards introduced in 2009 2009 establishments in Japan Kyushu Railway Company

Usable area

Types of cards

Extended functionality

See also

References

External links