Manaca

Manaca

Location	Nagoya area
Launched	February 11, 2011
Currency	Japanese yen
Stored-value	Pay as you go
Validity	Transportation Bureau City of Nagoya
	Nagoya Railroad
	Linimo
	Yutorito Line
	Aonami Line
	Toyohashi Railroad
Retailed	Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) stations
	Nagoya Municipal Subway stations
Website	Nagoya City Transportation Bureau web page Nagoya Railroad's web page (Japanese)

Manaca is a rechargeable contactless smart card used in Nagoya, Japan and the surrounding area since February 11, 2011. It replaced the existing Tranpass magnetic fare card system, both in scope and function.

Introduction

Sales of manaca cards began on Friday, February 11, 2011, which was National Foundation Day, a national holiday. From that day, sales of Tranpass cards, including Yurika cards and Panorama Cards, ceased, but they will still be usable until the last train departs at the end of February 29, 2012.

Name

The name comes from the Japanese word mannaka (真ん中^?), meaning "center", because Nagoya is roughly in the center of Japan, and because it claims to be a central part of your lifestyle. ^[1] The name, even in Japanese, is written in Roman letters as "manaca", usually with a lowercase "m".

Features

Manaca has many of the same features of other smart cards in Japan like TOICA.^[2][3]

Cards may be purchased without registering a name to the card, or with a name registered to it, in which case a season ticket or commuter pass may be stored on it. Cards, both registered and unregistered, may be purchased from ticket machines that support manaca cards at any subway station.^[4]

Specific features which are new to this card include:

• It is rechargeable, meaning that money can be added to the card an indefinite number of times after it has been purchased.
• It can be used as a prepaid card in restaurants and other businesses to pay for goods in lieu of cash.
• It allows a commuter pass to be stored on it.
• As a contactless smart card, it can be read by the automatic gates by placing it close to the smart card reader without having to touch the gates directly.
• It allows passengers to buy a commuter pass at any station
• If it is lost and has been bought in a passenger's name, it can be replaced along with stored fare and any commuter pass that was stored on it
• It can be used an indefinite number of times as a regular fare card or a commuter pass, so it does not create a disposal problem like the single-use Tranpass cards

Points

Manaca cards can accumulate points, but there are two point systems, mileage points and Tamarun points, but Tamarun points are specific to one maker, namely MIC, which makes cards bought at Meitetsu and Toyohashi Rail stations. The other maker is Nagoya Transportation Development Organization, which produces cards bought at any other location. The maker of the card is printed on the back of the card in the bottom left.

Mileage points are points accumulated from spending money stored on the manaca card as transportation fare, such as from riding the subway or other trains. Cards from either maker will accumulate such points as long as the card is registered with one's name and so on when purchased. These mileage points can be converted to fare stored on the card, but this must be done manually and periodically, or the points may expire.

There is a second type of point called Tamarun points, which accumulate on a manaca card in addition to mileage points, and which can only be used with cards bought from Meitetsu or Toyohashi Rail stations. The use of this system requires online registration after purchase of a registered card, after which one can check one's Tamarun point balance online and get other information related to Tamarun. Tamarun points can be accumulated by making purchases with one's manaca card at participating vendors, and Tamarun points can be used at these vendors to make purchases of goods, but these points cannot automatically be used as transportation fare like mileage points.

Essentially, mileage points are associated with stored fare, and Tamarun points are associated with buying goods. ^[5]

Scope

The scope of Manaca is identical to the Tranpass card that it replaced, and will be able to be used interchangeably with TOICA by 2012 and Suica by 2013.^[6] Passengers can use it on the following transportation systems:^{[2] [7]}

• Nagoya Municipal Subway lines
• Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) lines
• Aonami Line
• Nagoya City Bus
• Meitetsu Bus
• Yutorito Line
• Linimo
• Toyohashi Railroad

How to purchase

Manaca cards can be purchased from ticket machines located in subway, city bus and Meitetsu bus and train stations. Using the ticket machine touchscreen, you can chose to purchase a registered or unregistered card. If you chose to register your card, you'll need to enter your name, date of birth, sex, and phone number. Cards must be credited with cash, which is inserted into the ticket machine.^[8]

See also

• Tranpass
• TOICA
• Suica
• PiTaPa

References

1. ^ "ＩＣカード乗車券の名称とデザインを決定しました [Name and Design of Passenger's Smart Card has been Decided]" (in Japanese). Nagoya Railroad. http://www.meitetsu.co.jp/profile/news/2010/1200790_1138.html. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "ICカード「マナカ（manaca）」のサービス開始日について [Concerning the Start of Manaca Smart Card Service]" (in Japanese). Nagoya City Bureau of Transportation. http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/s_contents05.html. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
3. ^ "manaca（マナカ）とは [Manaca]" (in Japanese). E-Money Japan. http://www.e-moneyjapan.com/manaca/. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
4. ^ "利用ガイド". Nagoya City Subway. http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/dbps_data/_material_/localhost/_res/manaca_2011/_res/guide.pdf. Retrieved February 2, 2011. 
5. ^ "名鉄たまルン" (in Japanese). http://manaca.meitetsu.co.jp/tamarun/. 
6. ^ "名古屋圏私鉄のICカード名は「manaca」に" (in Japanese). tetsudo.com. http://www.tetsudo.com/news/535/%E5%90%8D%E5%8F%A4%E5%B1%8B%E5%9C%8F%E7%A7%81%E9%89%84%E3%81%AEIC%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E5%90%8D%E3%81%AF%E3%80%8Cmanaca%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AB/. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
7. ^ "ＩＣカード《manaca》の概要～当社の展開構想～ [Outline of This Company's Conception for Development of the Manaca Smart Card]" (in Japanese). Nagoya Railroad. http://www.meitetsu.co.jp/profile/news/2010/1200918_1138.html. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
8. ^ "Manaca card". Nagoya City Transportation Bureau. http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/manaca/index.html. Retrieved February 3, 2011. 

External links

• Details on Nagoya City Transportation Bureau website (Japanese)