What breaks when you travel on a data-only eSIM — checked country by country.
Japan · JR East's official card for overseas visitors
No phone number needed.
A physical Suica or PASMO card is bought with cash at a station — no account, no app, no phone number. JR East’s Welcome Suica Mobile, the phone-based option for visitors, is issued without a membership account too, so there’s no number to verify.
How sure we are
We read this in the company’s own published material.
Next check
By 6 Nov 2026. Apps change their sign-up rules without notice; if you see something different, tell us at [email protected].
| App | Data-only eSIM on its own | With your home SIM on | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| GO | Works | Works | Company's own documentation |
| Uber (rides) | Doesn’t work (reported) | Works (reported) | Reported, not confirmed |
| Suica / PASMO (physical card) | Works | Works | Company's own documentation |
| Welcome Suica Mobile | Works | Works | Company's own documentation |
This works on a data-only eSIM today. One thing could change the wider picture: a bill before Japan’s Diet would extend the ID-check law for mobile contracts to data services, and how it would apply to eSIMs bought abroad isn’t settled. What we know so far →
Won’t take a foreign number
Refuse lines without voice calls
Need a number that can receive a text
Work on a data-only eSIM on its own