Myths die hard, especially Western Japanese myths. Mostly because somebody doesn’t want them to. They are the proverbial rice bowl of hack foreign journalists who can’t be bothered doing research, or acknowledging changing times. Far too easy to spin the same old comforting myths for western readers. Comforting because it […]
Mobile Payments - Mobile Transit
Suica 2.0 Platform Closeup: Mobile Suica 2.0
March is always the month for new train schedules and services and 2024 is no different. JR East will be adding a significant Suica service expansion to 21 stations in the Yamagata region on March 16, the first big expansion since the May 2023 Suica 2.0 rollout in Iwate, Aomori […]
Mobile Payments
NTT Docomo • JR East launch dPOINT Mobile SUICA recharge for dBARAI (Updated for Apple Pay)
JR East and Docomo announced a new version of dBARAI app today one that hooks into Mobile Suica on Android to recharge with dPOINT or dBARAI account balance. Support on iOS is expected to come soon. dPOINT/dBARAI joins an ever growing Mobile Suica recharge backend that includes major credit cards, […]
Mobile Payments
New Suica System to aid Noto Earthquake Evacuees
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 […]
Mobile Payments
iOS 17.4 Apple Host Card Emulation
Apple has finally given their answer to EU demands (and now USA demands) for ‘open NFC’: Apple HCE (Host Card Emulation). Basically this means that any payment provider/developer in the EU market, with the proper credentials, can use the iPhone NFC chip. But they cannot use the iPhone embedded secure […]