SAPICA


SAPICA is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for public transport in Sapporo, Japan. Sapporo City Transportation Bureau introduced the system from January 30, 2009. The name of the card means "Sapporo's IC card". Sa' is also the sound symbolic word for quickly pulling a card out and pi' is the sound equivalent to "beep". The card is issued by Sapporo Information Network Company, the third sector company of Sapporo City Government.
The integrated service with Kitaca, a smart card system by JR Hokkaidō, was initially considered, but they decided to introduce the different systems because of the technical and financial difficulties. The two operators initially hoped to start an integrated service, but as of February 2020 Sapica still can not be used on JR services.
While using the same FeliCa chip as Suica and Kitaca, SCTB intentionally uses a different system code and encryption key to break compatibility to avoid JR East licensing fees.
From 2001 to 2004, Sapporo Municipal Subway experimented a different smart card called S.M.A.P. Card.

Usable area

As of its introduction on January 30, 2009, the card is usable on Sapporo Municipal Subway Lines, as well as on the Sapporo Streetcar and Sapporo City Bus. SAPICA can also be used as a payment card at participating stores and vending machines.

Types of cards