- Source: TOICA
TOICA (Japanese pronunciation: トイカ, Toika) is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for JR Central railway network which was introduced in the Chūkyō Area (Greater Nagoya) of Japan on November 25, 2006. The name is an abbreviation of "Tōkai IC Card". Like JR East's Suica or JR West's ICOCA, the card uses RFID technology developed by Sony known as FeliCa.
As of December 2007, a year after launch, 350,000 cards had been issued, and 50% of riders (and 70% of commuter pass holders) in the Nagoya area used the card. By Spring 2023, 3.27 million cards had been issued.
Since 2013, it has been part of Japan's Nationwide Mutual Usage Service, allowing it to be used in major cities across the country.
Usable area
As of 2022, TOICA is currently accepted on JR Central lines in the following area:
Tōkaidō Main Line, between Atami and Maibara (the whole line of JR Central operation)
Includes branch between Ōgaki and Mino-Akasaka
East of Atami and west of Maibara, stations are served by Suica or ICOCA, see below on limitations when using
Gotemba Line, between Kōzu and Numazu (the whole line)
East of Kōzu, stations are served by Suica
Minobu Line, between Fuji and Nishi-Fujinomiya
Iida Line, between Toyohashi and Toyokawa
Taketoyo Line, between Ōbu and Taketoyo (the whole line)
Chūō Main Line, between Nagoya and Nakatsugawa
Kansai Main Line, between Nagoya and Kameyama (the whole line of JR Central operation)
West of Kameyama, stations are served by ICOCA
Takayama Main Line, between Gifu and Mino-Ōta
Taita Line, between Mino-Ōta and Tajimi (the whole line)
Since 2018, TOICA is also supported on the Aichi Loop Line (Aikan).
Interoperation
As of March 23, 2013, TOICA began interoperability with nine other major IC cards, allowing it to be used country-wide as part of Japan's Nationwide Mutual Usage Service. As such, it may be used interchangeably with manaca, Suica (including Mobile Suica), PASMO, ICOCA, SUGOCA, and other cards.
Prior to the beginning of nationwide interoperability, TOICA became interoperable with Suica and ICOCA in March 2008 and with SUGOCA in March 2011.
Smart card systems in Shizuoka Prefecture, namely LuLuCa (Shizuoka Railway) and NicePass (Enshu Railway), are yet to be integrated.
References
External links
(in Japanese) Official website