was helpful but

Hi there!

with SUICA (or PASMO) you can check the amount of money left on it at any SUICA vending machine in the stations. The same goes with the PITAPA or ICOCA cards in Osaka/Kyoto. It's worth remembering that the SUICA card is just a prepaid card, and doesn't give you any discount on actual travel over cash - it's a convenience rather than a discount device. You can purchase the SUICA in conjunction with the Narita Express on arrival in Japan - this will give you a discount on the overall price of the pair, but the SUICA pre-paid charge itself is not treated any differently to normal cash tickets. That said, I can still recommend it for convenience :)

As an alternative to the prepaid cards, you should look at the unlimited metro and bus passes which I think offer best value, especially if you are doing a lot of tourism:

1. Tokyo metro 1 and 2 day passes (buy at Narita)
2. Kyoto passes

JR does operate the Yamanote Line in addition to many other lines in Tokyo. You should also check our detailed interactive JR map here, which lets you see the full JR Pass coverage across Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.

I hope this helps!