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Apple Pay Now Live in Japan
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In what way? Very few credit cards work and the FeliCa system is broken at this point. That system is also not accepted at 99% of Japanese businesses. It's a decent start but we are still years away from the ease of use and level of Apple Pay acceptance in other countries.
I see, a similar situation like elsewhere then. It's just this part of the article made it sound like there were many more ways of using it compared to other places:
"Apple Pay in Japan is unique because rather than exclusively using NFC, it also supports the FeliCa payments standard that’s been widely adopted in the country."
From JR...
モバイルSuicaおよびApple PayでのSuicaサービスへの一時的なアクセス集中について
ただ今、モバイルSuicaおよびApple PayでのSuicaサービスが大変混雑してつながりにくくなっております。お客さまにはご迷惑をおかけして申し訳ございませんが、しばらく待ってから操作いただけますようお願い申し上げます。
Basically, "Sorry, the system was overloaded. We should have it up soon. Try again later." Etc...
モバイルSuicaおよびApple PayでのSuicaサービスへの一時的なアクセス集中について
ただ今、モバイルSuicaおよびApple PayでのSuicaサービスが大変混雑してつながりにくくなっております。お客さまにはご迷惑をおかけして申し訳ございませんが、しばらく待ってから操作いただけますようお願い申し上げます。
Basically, "Sorry, the system was overloaded. We should have it up soon. Try again later." Etc...
If you can get it working and charged up, it works great! I used my Apple Watch to pay at the supermarket on my lunch break and scared the cashier half to death. She had no idea what had just happened. 
One thing to note is that Suica is limited to ONE device. You can move the card between devices but you can't have it on your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time. (Which makes sense given the way FeLiCa and prepaid/charge type IC cards work... No way to update the balance, I imagine...)
One thing to note is that Suica is limited to ONE device. You can move the card between devices but you can't have it on your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time. (Which makes sense given the way FeLiCa and prepaid/charge type IC cards work... No way to update the balance, I imagine...)
Makes you wonder why it didn't happen a bit faster really. Would be interesting to know how the rollout is being prioritised and the in's and out's of getting it all set up and deployed.
Mine still isn't working. I wonder if it's because mine also has a monthly pass, - portion of which is with a different rail company (not JR East) ... ?
I too can't add my suica card
I downloaded the suica app but there is no english option.
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I downloaded the suica app but there is no english option.
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do you have an english guide for the app? i wan't to create a virtual card too. and does it accept international credit cards to reload the suica.
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I too can't add my suica card
I downloaded the suica app but there is no english option.
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do you have an english guide for the app? i wan't to create a virtual card too. and does it accept international credit cards to reload the suica.
I read Japanese, so I did the process by myself... I'm sorry. I'm sure someone will make a guide soon...
As for loading the international card, it has to be supported by Apple Pay in the country it was issued in. Temporarily change your region setting in the settings app to that country and add the card in the wallet app. Then, change the region back to Japan and you should still be able to use it to charge your Suica when you register it.
wow pretty envious with your jap reading.lol
so that's how you load. and yep I already have a card that's registered in apple wallet, should be fine on that part then. thanks!
I was on this website awhile back and was told off for not quoting -- im not used to forums...so this time i have quoted but there are a few :-(
I will use capital letters so my replies stand out from the quotes (im not shouting etc)
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE FLIP PHONES AND/OR JAPANESE SMART PHONES - THESE COME WITH THE CHIP AND CAN BE USED FOR MOBILE PAYMENT -- IPHONE IS ONE OF THE LAST TO MAKE IT INTO THIS MARKET IN JAPAN -- THE FACT THAT IT IS STILL LIMITED TO THE NEW HANDSETS AND WATCHES IS PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE...YOU CAN USE MOBILE PAYMENT ON VERY CHEAP HANDSETS AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS -- THIS WILL NOT DO MUCH TO THE SALES OF IPHONES IN JAPAN.
IT IS LIMITED TO IPHONES 7, 7PLUS, AND APPLE WATCH SERIES 2 SOLD IN JAPAN -- A US IPHONE WILL NOT WORK...HOWEVER IT CAN BE USED FOR ONLINE AND APP PAYMENTS.
YOU DO NOT NEED AN APPLE ID - I LIVE IN JAPAN BUT USE A UK APPLE ID... YOUR APPLE PAY IS LINKED TO THE DEVICE AND NOT NECESSARILY YOU ID. IF YOU HAVE YOU APPLE PAY ACTIVATED ON YOU WATCH, THIS WILL WORK IN JAPAN - BUT YOUR PHONES WILL NOT.
THE APPLE WATCH 2 HAS THE CORRECT CHIP THAT WILL COMMUNICATE WITH THE PAYMENT READER, YOUR IPHONE WILL NOT.
I MAY BE POSSIBLE IN THE FUTURE IF BUSINESS IN JAPAN UPDATE THE CARD READERS, BUT UNTIL THEN APPLE PAY ONLY WORKS WITH IPHONE 7, 7 PLUS, AW2 ALL BOUGHT IN JAPAN.
YES. MY WATCH IS SERIES 0 - I HAVE APPLE PAY ON THIS, WHICH WILL WORK OUTSIDE OF JAPAN... BUT I HAVE THE JAPANESE IPHONE 7 PLUS, WHICH WILL WORK IN AND OUTSIDE OF JAPAN.
BASICALLY, WHICH EVER DEVICE IS FROM JAPAN (EITHER IPHONE 7, 7 PLUS, OR AW2) IT WILL WORK... ANY OTHER DEVICES WONT.
(ALL OTHER IPHONES 6S AND BELOW, PLUS APPLE WATCH 1 AND 0 - EVEN IF THEY ARE BOUGHT IN JAPAN, THEY WONT WORK).
YES.
JAPANESE APPLE WATCH SERIES 2 WILL WORK.
JAPANESE WATCH SERIES 0 AND SERIES 1 WILL NOT WORK.
ALL OTHER WATCHES FROM OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, INCLUDING SERIES 2, WILL NOT WORK.
I OWN A JAPANESE IPHONE 7 PLUS -- I CREATED A JAPANESE APPLE ID USING MY PHONES EMAIL (YOU CAN USE ANY EMAIL) - YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT AN ADDRESS OR CREDIT CARD DETAIL UNLESS YOU WANT TO MAKE ACTUAL PAYMENTS ON THE APP STORE -- NOTE THAT ALL APPS WILL BE IN JAPANESE AND YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE ADDRESS AND JAPANESE CREDIT CARD... ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN JUST ADD AN APPLE PREPAY CARD (THATS WHAT I DO).
YOU CAN ALSO HAVE AN APPLE ID FROM YOUR COUNTRY USING AN ADDRESS AND CREDIT CARD FROM YOUR COUNTRY. YOU CAN HAVE THE REGION OF THE PHONE SET TO JAPAN, BUT THE LANGUAGE AND APPLE ID SET TO ANY OTHER COUNTRY. YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE ICLOUD ACCOUNT ON YOUR PHONE TO SYNC DEVICES, BUT YOU CAN HAVE MANY APPLE ID'S TO ACCESS OTHER STORES.
MY MAIN ACCOUNT IS UK...THIS IS ALSO MY ICLOUD ACCOUNT.
BUT SOMETIMES CERTAIN APPS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE JAPANESE APP STORE - HENCE WHY I HAVE A JAPANESE APPLE ID (BUT THIS IS ONLY FOR DOWNLOADING APPS)
ALSO NOTE THAT PASMO CURRENTLY CANT BE ADDED TO THE IPHONE - ONLY SUICA, CREDIT CARDS, DEBIT CARDS, AND CERTAIN OTHER PREPAID CARDS (CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS DONT HAVE TO BE FROM JAPAN FOR APPLE PAY)
IF YOU ARE ONLY VISITING - YOU CAN GET PASMO OR SUICA CARDS FROM THE MACHINES OR TICKET OFFICE - IT'S QUICK AND YOU DONT NEED ANY CREDIT CARD DETAILS OR ADDRESSES!!!
YUP - I'M A LEFTY FOR CERTAIN THINGS... THANKFULLY NOT ALL STATIONS ARE RIGHT ONLY - IVE VISITED SOME THAT HAVE THEM LEFT OR RIGHT
NOPE - THIS IS APPLES SUPPORT PAGE FOR JAPAN WHICH SHOWS ISSUES WITH APPLE PAY FOR SUICA - https://www.apple.com/jp/support/systemstatus/
I THINK APPLE WAS READY, BUT SUICA WASNT -- TRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT...LOL
I will use capital letters so my replies stand out from the quotes (im not shouting etc)
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE FLIP PHONES AND/OR JAPANESE SMART PHONES - THESE COME WITH THE CHIP AND CAN BE USED FOR MOBILE PAYMENT -- IPHONE IS ONE OF THE LAST TO MAKE IT INTO THIS MARKET IN JAPAN -- THE FACT THAT IT IS STILL LIMITED TO THE NEW HANDSETS AND WATCHES IS PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE...YOU CAN USE MOBILE PAYMENT ON VERY CHEAP HANDSETS AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS -- THIS WILL NOT DO MUCH TO THE SALES OF IPHONES IN JAPAN.
IT IS LIMITED TO IPHONES 7, 7PLUS, AND APPLE WATCH SERIES 2 SOLD IN JAPAN -- A US IPHONE WILL NOT WORK...HOWEVER IT CAN BE USED FOR ONLINE AND APP PAYMENTS.
YOU DO NOT NEED AN APPLE ID - I LIVE IN JAPAN BUT USE A UK APPLE ID... YOUR APPLE PAY IS LINKED TO THE DEVICE AND NOT NECESSARILY YOU ID. IF YOU HAVE YOU APPLE PAY ACTIVATED ON YOU WATCH, THIS WILL WORK IN JAPAN - BUT YOUR PHONES WILL NOT.
THE APPLE WATCH 2 HAS THE CORRECT CHIP THAT WILL COMMUNICATE WITH THE PAYMENT READER, YOUR IPHONE WILL NOT.
I MAY BE POSSIBLE IN THE FUTURE IF BUSINESS IN JAPAN UPDATE THE CARD READERS, BUT UNTIL THEN APPLE PAY ONLY WORKS WITH IPHONE 7, 7 PLUS, AW2 ALL BOUGHT IN JAPAN.
YES. MY WATCH IS SERIES 0 - I HAVE APPLE PAY ON THIS, WHICH WILL WORK OUTSIDE OF JAPAN... BUT I HAVE THE JAPANESE IPHONE 7 PLUS, WHICH WILL WORK IN AND OUTSIDE OF JAPAN.
BASICALLY, WHICH EVER DEVICE IS FROM JAPAN (EITHER IPHONE 7, 7 PLUS, OR AW2) IT WILL WORK... ANY OTHER DEVICES WONT.
(ALL OTHER IPHONES 6S AND BELOW, PLUS APPLE WATCH 1 AND 0 - EVEN IF THEY ARE BOUGHT IN JAPAN, THEY WONT WORK).
YES.
JAPANESE APPLE WATCH SERIES 2 WILL WORK.
JAPANESE WATCH SERIES 0 AND SERIES 1 WILL NOT WORK.
ALL OTHER WATCHES FROM OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, INCLUDING SERIES 2, WILL NOT WORK.
I OWN A JAPANESE IPHONE 7 PLUS -- I CREATED A JAPANESE APPLE ID USING MY PHONES EMAIL (YOU CAN USE ANY EMAIL) - YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT AN ADDRESS OR CREDIT CARD DETAIL UNLESS YOU WANT TO MAKE ACTUAL PAYMENTS ON THE APP STORE -- NOTE THAT ALL APPS WILL BE IN JAPANESE AND YOU WILL NEED A JAPANESE ADDRESS AND JAPANESE CREDIT CARD... ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN JUST ADD AN APPLE PREPAY CARD (THATS WHAT I DO).
YOU CAN ALSO HAVE AN APPLE ID FROM YOUR COUNTRY USING AN ADDRESS AND CREDIT CARD FROM YOUR COUNTRY. YOU CAN HAVE THE REGION OF THE PHONE SET TO JAPAN, BUT THE LANGUAGE AND APPLE ID SET TO ANY OTHER COUNTRY. YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE ICLOUD ACCOUNT ON YOUR PHONE TO SYNC DEVICES, BUT YOU CAN HAVE MANY APPLE ID'S TO ACCESS OTHER STORES.
MY MAIN ACCOUNT IS UK...THIS IS ALSO MY ICLOUD ACCOUNT.
BUT SOMETIMES CERTAIN APPS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE JAPANESE APP STORE - HENCE WHY I HAVE A JAPANESE APPLE ID (BUT THIS IS ONLY FOR DOWNLOADING APPS)
ALSO NOTE THAT PASMO CURRENTLY CANT BE ADDED TO THE IPHONE - ONLY SUICA, CREDIT CARDS, DEBIT CARDS, AND CERTAIN OTHER PREPAID CARDS (CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS DONT HAVE TO BE FROM JAPAN FOR APPLE PAY)
IF YOU ARE ONLY VISITING - YOU CAN GET PASMO OR SUICA CARDS FROM THE MACHINES OR TICKET OFFICE - IT'S QUICK AND YOU DONT NEED ANY CREDIT CARD DETAILS OR ADDRESSES!!!
YUP - I'M A LEFTY FOR CERTAIN THINGS... THANKFULLY NOT ALL STATIONS ARE RIGHT ONLY - IVE VISITED SOME THAT HAVE THEM LEFT OR RIGHT
NOPE - THIS IS APPLES SUPPORT PAGE FOR JAPAN WHICH SHOWS ISSUES WITH APPLE PAY FOR SUICA - https://www.apple.com/jp/support/systemstatus/
I THINK APPLE WAS READY, BUT SUICA WASNT -- TRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT...LOL
So just to get clarification. Even with the recent announcements, a traveler to Japan with a US model iPhone (with ApplePay) and US model Apple Watch (Series 1 or 2) will not have any contactless payment options with those devices?
If the terminal only supports the FeliCa standard (like most POS terminals in Japan) then you are correct. No contactless payment options.
So the interesting thing about this news is that I've read that FeliCa is incorporated in the NFC standards as NFC-F, and supposedly any device that supports the NFC standard should support it. Sony even says as much on their page (http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/NFC/index.html):
"NFC-F, the FeliCa communication technology, is defined as one of the communication methods specified in NFCIP-1 and by the NFC Forum. As a result, all NFC devices support NFC-F communication."
I'm going to guess the only reason non-Japanese iPhones won't work with it is probably some sort of licensing or market restriction issue. I can't otherwise imagine Apple going to the trouble of another set of SKUs with different hardware. They already seem to have enough with the dual-sourced baseband modem. Any idea if there have been any teardowns of a Japanese 7, and is the NFC hardware the same between it and any other iPhone 7?
"NFC-F, the FeliCa communication technology, is defined as one of the communication methods specified in NFCIP-1 and by the NFC Forum. As a result, all NFC devices support NFC-F communication."
I'm going to guess the only reason non-Japanese iPhones won't work with it is probably some sort of licensing or market restriction issue. I can't otherwise imagine Apple going to the trouble of another set of SKUs with different hardware. They already seem to have enough with the dual-sourced baseband modem. Any idea if there have been any teardowns of a Japanese 7, and is the NFC hardware the same between it and any other iPhone 7?
For the apple prepay card, you mean as in an iTunes gift card? Also, can it be from any country? For example, iTunes/App Store cards purchased from specific country work only in the country's app/itunes store you bought it from?
Good to know. I was just stating any train pass card. I use several IC cards such as Suica, Manaca, and PiTaPa. Just a hassle to carry quite a few.
One last thing. If you have any IC card on your phone (ones that work), can it be on your watch as well? I would share an IC card with my GF. She would have it on her phone, and I would have it on my watch.
Yes, that's interesting, and probably why Apple was able to make the 7 compatible this time around. I can't imagine the Japanese models are different hardware wise, that wouldn't be worth it to Apple. It's probably just a license they pay per phone to have the functionality active on the devices in Japan.
"My Suica and Commuter Suica cards that use romaji names or international phone numbers are not supported. Pasmo and other transit cards are not supported."
"From 12:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. daily, many Suica functionalities aren't available to customers. This includes adding cards, adding money to Suica cards, and suspending and removing cards from Find My iPhone and iCloud.com."
Shockingly limited, low tech and not foreigner-friendly...surprise surprise...welcome to Japan.
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Exactly what it is. All iPhones, including sim-free arrive in Japan with only diagnostic software. They go to a processing and packing centre (in Chiba I believe) where local software and the OS are loaded and phones and other devices are packaged. This is the main reason why devices in Japan arrive to customers with scratches and imperfections, more than anywhere else. The FeliCa code is added at that point. Sony didn't want it added in other regions since their FeliCa is magical and unique...kind of like Memory Stick was.
The encryption on FeliCa is actually quite low which is part of the reason for extremely quick read times and why they have monetary limits on the cards. Great for transport and small purchases but not a true cash replacement.
Right, except that my commuter pass is a Suica (not Pasmo), my name is shown in katakana (not romaji) and my phone number is Japanese. The only thing is that my commuter pass includes other rail company's lines, not just JR East. But again, it's a Suica, not a Pasmo ...
Unfortunately, due to the way the technology works, it's one Suica card on one device. They can't be duplicated/synced. But you can move cards between your iPhone and Apple Watch, and you can supposedly have up to eight different Suica cards total. (I made one for my iPhone and one for my Apple Watch. Separate balances, though. I loaded ¥10,000 onto my Apple Watch one and ¥1,000 on my iPhone as a backup just in case I need it sometime.
)Ohh, that's why I can't add my "My Suica" card with my romaji name on it. Might just get a new regular card then.
btw, I've read in the setup page of apple wallet that the plastic card(suica) will be unusable upon registration, so does this mean whenever I reload balance to my card, I will just use/tap my phone to one of the ticket machines in the train station?