What do I do if the ticket gate won't open?
Short answer
Use the fare adjustment machine inside the gates to top up in cash, or take it to the staffed gate beside them.
Why it didn't open
Three things cause it. The reader missed your card, the balance is short, or you have travelled out of the area your card covers. The first two are ordinary and the gate closing is the only consequence.
The third is the one that surprises people. An IC card works inside its own region and cannot carry you across into another one — a journey in the Tokyo area cannot continue into the Sendai area on the same card. For a trip that crosses regions you buy a paper ticket before you set off.
The machine that fixes it
The fare adjustment machine sits inside the gates, which is the part that feels wrong the first time: you are meant to go back in rather than out. Top up there and walk through again.
Top-ups are cash only. A credit card will not load an IC card, which catches people who have spent the week paying for everything by card. Amounts go in fixed steps and the card holds no more than 20,000 yen.
When to just ask
There is a staffed gate beside the automatic ones, and the tourism board's advice is simply to take anything you cannot resolve there. If you are not sure which of the three problems you have, that is faster than working it out yourself.
One thing worth knowing before it happens: limited express, express and Green Car travel needs its own ticket on top of the fare. A tapped card alone does not entitle you to the seat.
Good to know
- Top-ups are cash only — a credit card will not load an IC card
- IC cards work within one region; crossing regions needs a paper ticket
- Limited express and Green Car seats need a separate ticket
Top up at a fare adjustment machine near the turnstiles. It handles both a T-money card and a single journey ticket.