The End of the Suica Penguin Era

I've used a well-worn Suica card on Kanto-area trains for decades, and it shows. The lamination is wearing at the edges, and the rewritable thermal printing indicating my details has faded away.

 I loaded the card at ticket vending machines more times than I can count, and it has also served as a 定期券, teikiken, or period ticket. The versatile Suica card with the integrated circuit (IC) chip launched in 2001. You might wonder about the branding, name, and logo. The round logo features train tracks that look like a スイカ, suika, a watermelon, and the logo incorporates IC in the spelling, Suica.

In 2004, the Suica Penguin, created by illustrator Sakazaki Chiharu, became part of the brand. The story is that the penguin travelled from Antarctica, lured by Japan's efficient train system. 

In August 2026, JR East announced that The Penguin Years are over. As the discontinued Suica penguin-branded cards run out, the railway company will sell simple IC cards.

Have you got one of these IC cards?