JR East announced they will distribute 18,000 Suica cards to all Noto Earthquake evacuees at all evacuation centers. The request came from Ishikawa Prefecture via the Japanese Digital Agency because they have a problem. Evacuees move from center to center, or stay will relatives going to evacuee centers as needed to receive relief supplies and other assistance. With people on the move it’s difficult keeping track of where they are and what they need.
So Ishikawa Prefecture asked JR East to help and they are providing Suica cards linked with ID Port to do the job. ID Port is the cloud system run by JR East subsidiary JREM who basically operate the Suica system, it is powering new services like Suica 2.0 and the forthcoming Eki-Net QR ticketing. In this case ID Port will be the glue between the Suica system and the Ishikawa Prefecture system.
The diagram outline looks pretty simple. Evacuees register for a free ‘Evacuee Suica’ which is a regular Suica card registered with the local municipality. The evacuee simply taps in to any evacuation center and the Suica system aggregates the current user statue to the Ishikawa Prefecture system. The prefecture knows where they are and what assistance to give, the evacuee gets assistance information and aid tailored for them.
The aim is to streamline and speed up evacuee assistance. In addition to the 18,000 Suica cards JR East will also donate 350 Suica card readers that will be deployed at 310 evacuation centers. Evacuees will have to register for Evacuee Suica, they cannot register a current plastic Suica or Mobile Suica if they have one. People have asked why the Japanese Digital Agency didn’t simply use the My Number card system for this. They tested it but it didn’t work very well, so Ishikawa Prefecture called the private sector in to help.
No word how much money is pre-loaded on evacuee Suica cards, but imagine they come with at least ¥5,000 or more so they can buy things at convenience stores while on the go. It all sounds good but I have one question for JR East: is there really a shortage of plastic Suica cards if 18,000 Suica cards magically appear in an emergency?
Inquiring minds want to know🧐😉
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