Study Japanese at JapanesePod101.com! Today’s Sights & Sounds lesson takes place in Harajuku station in the heart of one of Tokyo’s most fashionable areas. Will talk a little bit about Suica, the IC card that functions both as a train pass and e-ca$h. We’ll look at a few grammar points such as -kke which is used when you can’t quite recall something. Also we’ll look at the casual masculine form of ~te kudasai. After listening, stop by JapanesePod101.com and be sure to leave us a post!
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Premium Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
29 Responses to “Premium Lesson #7 - SS3 - Train Ticket”
maxiewawa says:
January 19th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
もちろん、goodです。無ければ電車が乗れないだから！
秋宏先生の声を聞くと、懐かしいね！
このレッソンは全部まだ聞いてないで、盛り上がっています！
Bjorn says:
January 19th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Some trivia for wordplay lovers like me (that’s one reason why I love Japanese 
)
Suica stands for “Super Urban Intelligent Card” 
, but of course
also for watermelon (if you look, it has a little watermelon like train track logo in the corner).
The card in the kansai area is called “ICOCA” (IC Operating Card) which can also be read as “行こうか” = Let’s go/Shall we go? It’s got a platypus logo, Iko-chan.
BTW as far as I know you can use either card in both Kanto and Kansai area.
ジョサイア says:
January 19th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
ワォ！原宿はなつかしやねん！！
Seeing that photo brings back memories! I haven’t been in Tokyo for two years and seeing that image of Harajuku is very nostalgic! Very nice! 
プチクレア says:
January 19th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Suicaカードは便利らしいですよ！パリにはSUICAと同じの”NAVIGO”と言うカードがあるのです。このカードで自転車を貸し出しするのもできます。 
でも、SUICAカードは買い物をするのができると思いますが…:???:
How do you get a Suica card in Tokyo, exactly ? Is it only useful if you stay for a long time, or can you use it for short periods of time or if you come to Tokyo often ?
ジャックさんはファブリツィオさんによく似てますね！
ジャブちゃん says:
January 20th, 2008 at 2:27 am
In and around London, you can use an Oyster Card, which sounds similar to SUIKA. You just touch in and touch out, the fares are cheaper, and if you get a registered one you can check and top up your balance online 
Daniel Beck says:
January 20th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
You can learn more about Suica and IC cards by checking out my blog post for JP101 here:
http://blogs.japanesepod101.com/blog/2007/04/03/samurai-theologian-in-tokyo-ic-smart-commute-cards/
Hyunwoo(ヒョヌ） says:
January 20th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I love the names SUICA and ICOCA Thanks for the explanation, Bjorn! I think I’ve seen ICOCA, but didn’t really catch the humor in it.
Max, you make me miss China! Is 上海交通卡 different from the… subway card that you can put credit in and use for many rides? What’s the one that has a picture of the user on it? Is it 上海交通卡?
maxiewawa says:
January 20th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
A picture of the user? I haven’t heard of that one before! But yes, 上海交通卡 is the one you can use for the metro, taxis, ferries, the maglev, paying for parking meters, etc…
yuki says:
January 20th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
みなさん、おひさしぶり！
Harajuku… that place is totally different from where I’m living right now. All I can see is snow and mountains… 
スイカも必要ねぇなぁぁぁぁ。。。。 
grey says:
January 21st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Like the Octopus card in Hong Kong. Can you use SUICA and ICOCA to buy groceries too?
And Nice photo, also natsukashii for me, as it reminds me of my first time in Harajuku, when I walked into a reggae festival.
クリストファー・ハート (KC8UFV) says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 am
Peter -
What is this ezpass you speak of? Around here, you get one of these tickets when you get on, and pay it at one of these toll booths when you get off. There is no special token, just the almighty dollar. The tickets are printed differently for different entrances. On the back, there is a price chart. On the left are exit numbers, along the top are types of vehicles. Cars are the first column. On US interstates, exit numbers roughly align with mile markers.
スコット says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:00 am
In Illinois we have IPASS. Most of the tollbooths have an IPASS only lane, it scans a little white receiver that you mount in your car. They recommend slowing down to 40mph, but it still reads it if you are going fast. Tolls are half price if you use one of these. I prefer taking the train to the city
There isn’t anything like Suica here. 
Don’t forget about Mobile Suica! If I ever move to Japan, I wanna use that! Osaifu Ketai!
Phil says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Have you thought about adding the picture for these lessons as the podcast artwork? They would look pretty nice on the nice large iPhone/iPod Touch screen!
Or perhaps doing an AAC enhanced iTunes podcast with the artwork embedded?
Birddog says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
What is the difference in nuance between:
待ってください and 待っててください with the double ‘te’ ?
Thanks
Daniel Beck says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
プチクレアさん、
I’m glad you found that post useful.
Philさん、
I agree that an enhanced podcast would be useful and helpful. But, as someone who does enhanced podcasts, I can say it would definitely increase the workload.
maxiewawa says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:48 pm
鳥犬さん(birddog), the second て is short for いて, which makes the whole sentence 待っていてください。This literally translates as “please be waiting” as opposed to “please wait”.
That’s a translation, but I’m not exactly sure on how it affects the meaning… 誰かが助けてください！Or should that be 助けててください。。。
Hyunwoo(ヒョヌ） says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I’m not an expert on Japanese so I might be wrong, but here’s what I think about the difference between 待っていて and 待って。
待っていて comes from the expression 待っている、so you are “in the state of waiting” as opposed to 待つ which means just “to wait”.
I don’t really think 待っていて and 待って make that much of a difference when you want to say “Please wait.”, but if you say 待っていて or 待ってて、it gives a nuance that you want the other person to “be waiting until the moment you’re there” which is basically the same thing as “待って”.
But, if you want to say “Wait for 5 minutes and then go”,
you can say 5分待ってから行って
but not very often 5分待っていてから行って
It’s just what I think
誰か助けてください～！！
And until someone gives us a better explanation, birddog, max, “待っててね”
Berin Loritsch says:
February 27th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
In Washington DC, we have the MetroPass which is even more convenient than Suica. MetroPass is the same thing, a pre-paid card, but it will pay for parking at Metro stations, the Metro train, and several county buses. It would be like Suica paying for non JR buses as well. My bus charges less money if I use the MetroPass than if I used cash. They used to be a ticket only system, but upgraded late last year. ものすごく便利です。
The EZ-Pass that Peter-san mentioned works for all toll stations from New York to Florida. That’s a lot of toll booths, and it was very convenient when my wife and I went from Virginia to New York for a trip.
Berin Loritsch says:
February 29th, 2008 at 5:46 am
I found a video of how Suica works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iga5zYNmKJk
A couple suica commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD5EVDFIaeo&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHQixmhMDww&NR=1
(Apparently it is available for your 携帯電話)
Daniel Beck says:
February 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Berin Loritschさん、
Actually, Suica (and/or Pasmo) works on many non-JR buses and taxis as well as on private train lines and subways. It also is available in many convenience stores and I even saw the card reader in a Starbucks.
Kyle says:
March 17th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I don’t know about anyone else, but the little JR jingle that you hear in the background is very 懐かしい for me. So many memories came flooding back when I heard it. Anyone else know what I’m talking about?
Yamanchu says:
June 14th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Kyle, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I feel the same. Who would’ve thought a jingle like that would bring back so many good memories!
Jenny says:
June 18th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I’m living in Yokohama, and use the PASMO as a commuter pass, and as e-cash. It works on the buses, and some vending machines. PASMO and Suica both work on each other’s system so you don’t have to have two cards when you want to travel. The PASMO also has a limit of 20,000円.
Here’s a hint for those wishing to save some money if you live here: the commuter pass is actually an unlimited use pass for the stations on your route. I go to Yokohama station 7 days/week, so it’s cheaper for me to get a pass that has that station on the way.
JapanesePod101.com says:
June 19th, 2008 at 3:30 am
that’s right!
there was some non-sense in the forum that pasmo and suica were different. but they can do the same things now! 
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Category: Premium Lessons |
Grammar: kke, te form, te kudasai, te kure | Function: talking about things | Topic: foreigners, Harajuku, Suica, trains | Politeness Level: casual
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