Osegi
Mobile·2 min read

Suica walk-through gates: how UWB tells you from the person beside you

JR East will let you walk through Suica gates with your phone still in your pocket from spring 2028. The trick is UWB, and not every phone has it.

Commuters walking through a station ticket gate in Tokyo without taking their phones out of their pockets.
Image: ギズモード・ジャパン
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Picture a packed Tokyo ticket gate, bags in both hands, phone somewhere at the bottom of a pocket. From spring 2028, JR East says you will be able to just walk through. The company announced on November 10 that Suica walk-through gates will roll out to 40 stations, starting with every Yamanote Line station and the stations at Narita and Haneda airports.

How do Suica walk-through gates work?

Today's Suica uses NFC, which only works over a few centimetres, so you have to hold your phone or card against the reader. The new gates use UWB (Ultra-Wide Band), a radio technology that works from a few metres away and can measure a phone's position and distance very precisely. It is the same tech that lets an iPhone point you toward a lost AirTag.

UWB antennas on the gate work out where each phone is, and authentication is layered on top to read a compatible Mobile Suica. Because the gate knows exactly where each phone is relative to it, it can tell whose phone is actually passing through and not read the person next to you. How well that holds up in a real rush hour is still to be tested.

Which phones will work?

Not announced yet. UWB is already common: many iPhones from the iPhone 11 on have it, though the iPhone 16e and 17e do not. On Android, it appears in Google Pixel Pro models, some high-end Galaxy S phones, the Galaxy Z Fold series, and Sharp's AQUOS R8 through R11. Having UWB does not guarantee support, though. The trial will use the AQUOS R10 with a dedicated app, and whether iPhones or other Android phones will work at launch is unknown.

From April 10, 2027, about 400 commuters with passes between the participating stations will try the system at 14 stations, including Shinagawa, Tokyo and Shinjuku. It only applies within the pass's route, with walk-through gates used for both entry and exit.

What changes for current Mobile Suica users?

Nothing breaks. Your existing Mobile Suica, pass and balance carry over, so there is no new card to set up. If you enter at a walk-through station and exit at one without it, you just tap as usual, and the reverse works too. Card-type Suica has not been announced for walk-through support. Not every gate at the 40 stations will convert either: each gate area gets one entry lane and one exit lane.

And no, you do not need to raise your arms like the people in JR East's illustrations. Walking normally is enough.

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Tags:suicajr eastuwbwalk-through ticket gatemobile suicatokyo

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