Nimoca

nimoca

How to use nimoca card in a ticket gate.

Nimoka, written in lower-case letters, nimoca (ニモカ, Nimoka), is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu) introduced the system on May 18, 2008. Its name is an acronym of "nice money card", while nimo (にも) in Japanese 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, RFID technology developed by Sony. On March 13, 2010, nimoca was interoperated with two similar cards in Fukuoka—SUGOCA from Kyūshū Railway Company (JR Kyūshū) and Hayakaken from Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau—plus Suica, a card used in Greater Tokyo Area by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). ^[1] The card features a ferret 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): 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.
  • From 2013.

Types of cards

• nimoca: Does not require registration.
• Star nimoca: Requires registration. It can be reissued if a user loses it.
• Credit nimoca: A credit card with the above functions.

These three cards can be issued either as prepaid cards or commuters passes.

Mejiron nimoca

See also: Mejiron nimoca

The Mejiron nimoca (めじろんnimoca, Mejiron Nimoka) introduced the system on December 26, 2010 by Oita Bus, Oita Kōtsū and Kamenoi Bus in Oita Prefecture.^[2] The cute design combines nimoca mascot Ferret with Mejiron (めじろん?), the mascot character widely loved as Oita Prefecture's cheering squad.

References

External links

• (Japanese) Official website

Mass transit in Fukuoka–Kitakyushu area
Fukuoka City Subway lines	Hakozaki Kūkō (Airport) Nanakuma
JR Kyushu lines	Chikuhi Chikuhō Main Fukuhoku Yutaka Haruda Wakamatsu Gotōji Hitahikosan Kagoshima Main Karatsu Kashii Nippō Sasaguri
Nishitetsu Rail lines	Amagi Dazaifu Kaizuka Tenjin Ōmuta
Other Railways and cablecars	Kitakyushu Monorail Amatetsu Amagi Line Chikutetsu Heichiku Ita Line Itoda Line Tagawa Line Mojikō Retro Kankō Line Sarakurayama Cable Car
Terminals	Rail Hakata Kashii Kokura Kurosaki Nakasu-Kawabata Nishitetsu Fukuoka Orio Tenjin Tenjin-Minami Airports Kitakyushu Airport Fukuoka Airport Saga Airport Kokura Airport Ports Kokura Hakata Shimonoseki
Ferry	Domestic Kanmon Straits Ferry Suonada Ferry International Camelia Line Pukwan Ferry Beetle Fast Ferry Kobee Ferry List of ferry operators in Japan
Miscellaneous	Cards Hayakaken nimoca SUGOCA Rail transport in Japan Transport in Fukuoka-Kitakyushu
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)