The iOS 12.3 update (currently 12.3.1 16F203) has important improvements for iPhone users in Japan and Apple Pay Transit users everywhere:
Reiwa Era Calendar Support
Reiwa Era is also supported in watchOS 5.2.1 and macOS 10.14.5
Reiwa in iOS 12.3 
Reiwa
Improved Apple Pay Suica and Express Transit Performance
iOS 12.3 is the best iOS version for Apple Pay Suica and Express Transit cards that Apple has produced, period. This is the single most important feature for users in Japan. Previous Suica iOS performance issues are all gone: Suica balance not updating, unresponsive Suica UI, unresponsive Suica Recharge, etc. Longtime iPhone Suica users will be pleasantly surprised, as will Apple Pay HOP users. If for no other reason, update to iOS 12.3 for fast trouble free Apple Pay Express Transit performance.
EMV Express Transit Support
This is a new Apple Pay Wallet option for payment cards (bank cards) to be set for Express Transit on open loop transit systems that support the feature, only on Portland TriMet for now. The new Apple Express Transit support page explains payment card support. Reader feedback suggests payment card support is the usual mixed bag of bank card services limited by region issuers and issues. EMV transit is always slower at the gate than native transit cards, both plastic and virtual, and only supports standard fares.
The low key nature of this service addition is rather unusual. Lots of under the hood changes have been made in iOS 12.3 Wallet in advance of the Apple Card launch: EMV Express Transit support, the removal of long term beta status for Beijing and Shanghai Transit Cards, the huge leap in Express Transit performance, and much more. We’ll hear all about these developments along with new NFC features to be announced for iOS 13 Apple Pay Wallet at WWDC19.
Multiple Express Transit Cards in iOS 12.3 
Transit Card vs. Payment Card 
No more beta label for China Transit cards in iOS 12.3
Wallet UI Changes
Suica UI Wallet changes have been ongoing since iOS 12.2 and are still hit and miss. The UI has improved some from iOS 12.2: transaction detail running order has changed slightly to avoid long strings that are easy clipped in English. Unfortunately, important Suica settings are still too easy to miss. Users still have to dig around to find them. I hope Apple continues to improve the Wallet card UI in iOS 13. Here’s a look:
iOS 12.3 Commuter Suica 
iOS 12.2 Commuter Suica 
Other Stuff
Apple TV: the iTunes Japan Store does not offer TV content so the revamped TV App is just for playing downloaded movies and nothing more, at least until Apple TV+ service launches in Japan. Amazon Prime and Netflix are way ahead of Apple here and remain the top video streaming providers. It will be interesting to see what Apple comes up with.
Update: the iOS 12.4 update provides the same Express Transit performance and fixes as iOS 12.3
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