With the cheap yen and visitors flooding Japan, social media sites are overflowing with itinerary and transit questions. Should I get a JR PASS or not, how much cash do I need, and most of all: where can I get a Suica? The ongoing Suica • PASMO shortage, coming up on the 1 year mark, is indeed unusual. So unusual that people are wondering if there really is a shortage. I think there is but there is definitely something else going on. Is JR East running down the untouched Welcome Suica inventory made for Tokyo Olympics? PASMO has already announced that PASMO PASSPORT sales will be over by August. Regular Suica isn’t widely available but Tokyo area JR East Travel Service Centers seem to have pretty reliable inventory for visitors at this point. We’ll have to see how it pans out.
Naturally, subreddits are full of debating the merits of loading Apple Pay Suica, with Android users complaining the Mobile Suica option doesn’t exists for non-JP Android phones because they don’t have a ‘FeliCa chip’. Actually they do but it’s kneecapped. But there is one thing everybody agrees on: use Google Maps for navigating all things Japan. Actually I have yet to run across a single use Apple Maps in Japan recommendation. For the average user Google Maps has it all from real-time transit information to 100% Street View coverage, which means that AR Walking directions work everywhere too, lots of Google curated point of interest info.
Apple Maps doesn’t have any of this in Japan: no real-time transit, limited Look Around, crappy 3rd party point of interest info. I’ve noticed this with Japanese users, Apple Maps is rarely mentioned in online forums. In Japan the Google Maps vs. Apple Maps debate simply doesn’t exist. Digital map nerds might be debating it…somewhere but the simple fact is that digital map users in Japan, both Japanese and visitors, use Google Maps.