is a rechargeable contactless smart card

Smart card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

 ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture

Fukuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Fukuoka.- History :Fukuoka Prefecture includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Nishi-Nippon Railroad

Nishi-Nippon Railroad

The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real-estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture. In addition, from 1950 to 1972, the company owned the Lions...

 (Nishitetsu) introduced the system on May 18, 2008. Its name is an acronym of "nice money card", while in Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 means "also," as the card is usable also on buses, also on trains, also for shopping, etc. Like other electronic fare collection systems in Japan, the card uses FeliCa

FeliCa

FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for Felicity Card...

, RFID

Radio Frequency Identification

Radio-frequency identification is a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object. Some RFID tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the...

 technology developed by Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

. On March 13, 2010, nimoca has been interoperated with two similar cards in Fukuoka—SUGOCA

SUGOCA

is a Japanese rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture and environs. The Kyūshū Railway Company introduced the system on 1 March 2009...

 from Kyūshū Railway Company

Kyushu Railway Company

The , also referred to as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea.When Japan Railways was divided in...

 (JR Kyūshū) and Hayakaken

Hayakaken

is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau introduced the system from 7 March 2009. Its name stands for , , , and . also means "Because it's quick" in Kyūshū dialect...

 from Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau

Fukuoka City Subway

The serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line).The lines are operated by the . Unlike most other public operators in Japan, the company only operates subways without any bus lines....

—plus Suica

Suica

is a rechargeable contactless smart card used as a fare card on train lines in Japan. Launched in November 2001, the card is usable currently in the Kantō region, at JR East stations near Sendai and Niigata...

, a card used in Greater Tokyo Area

Greater Tokyo Area

The Greater Tokyo Area is a large metropolitan area in Kantō region, Japan, consisting of most of the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tokyo . In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, including the , , and others....

 by East Japan Railway Company

East Japan Railway Company

is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....

 (JR East). The card features a ferret

Ferret

The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...

 as the official mascot.

Usable area

As of March 2011

• Buses:
  • Nishitetsu Group: All local bus lines, and some highway bus lines.
  • Showa Bus: All local bus lines in Fukuoka Prefecture and some express bus lines.
  • Oita Bus: All local bus lines and some express bus lines.
  • Oita Kōtsū: All local bus lines and Airliner airport report bus lines.
  • Kamenoi Bus: All local bus lines.
• Trains: All the lines.
• Others (as electronic money
  Electronic money
  Electronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...
  
  ): Solaria Plaza, Solaria Stage, Tenjin Core, Nishitetsu Store (those along Tenjin-Ōmuta Line), and others.

Future plans

• Buses:
  • Showa Bus: All local bus lines in Saga Prefecture
    Saga Prefecture
    is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...
    
    .
  • From 2013.

Types of cards

• nimoca: Does not require registration.
• Star nimoca: Requires registration. It can be reissued when a user lost it.
• Credit nimoca: A credit card
  Credit card
  A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
  
   with the above functions.

These three cards can be issued either as prepaid cards

Stored-value card

A stored-value card refers to monetary value on a card not in an externally recorded account and differs from prepaid cards where money is on deposit with the issuer similar to a debit card...

 or commuters passes

Season ticket

A season ticket is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time.-Sport:In sport, a season ticket grants the holder access to all regular-season home games for one season without additional charges. The ticket usually offers a discounted price over purchasing a ticket for each of...

.

Mejiron nimoca

See also: Mejiron nimoca

Mejiron Nimoca

is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Oita Prefecture, Japan. Oita Bus, Oita Kōtsū and Kamenoi Bus introduced the system on December 26, 2010. Like other electronic fare collection systems in Japan, the card uses FeliCa, RFID technology developed by Sony...

The introduced the system on December 26, 2010 by Oita Bus, Oita Kōtsū and Kamenoi Bus in Oita Prefecture

Oita Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan on Kyūshū Island. The prefectural capital is the city of Ōita.- History :Around the 6th century Kyushu consisted of four regions: Tsukushi-no-kuni 筑紫国, Hi-no-kuni 肥国, and Toyo no kuni...

. The cute design combines nimoca mascot Ferret with Mejiron (めじろん?), the mascot character widely loved as Oita Prefecture's cheering squad.

External links

Official website