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Suica Penguin To Retire From Tokyo Transport Role
Everyone’s favorite penguin — the Suica mascot — is set to retire in spring 2027. The face of Tokyo transport IC cards will be “graduating”, with no word on who will be taking the ridiculously cute and round animal’s place.
Japan is famous for its mascots, with everything from prefectures to the police force and hot-spring towns having one — and transport cards are no exception. The Suica IC card is synonymous with the black and white penguin; Osaka has its own sassy platypus counterpart for ICOCA cards, and there are others out there.
The Suica penguin’s retirement announcement has sent shockwaves through social media, with people posting GIFs of Pingu weeping and general cries of “Nooooo”.
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East Japan Railway Co., the owner of the penguin character, has said that a new mascot is on the way, as part of improvements to Suica card functionality that will take place in fall 2026.
The Suica penguin — along with Suica cards — first appeared in 2001, giving it a 25-year-long career. The creative credit goes to illustrator and author Chiharu Sakazaki, and is said to have been based on Antartica’s Adelie penguin.
It’s estimated that over 110 million Suica cards — both physical and digital — have been issued over the years. That’s a lot of cute penguin faces. And that doesn’t take into account the related merch, which includes hand-towels, pencil cases, t-shirts and all manner of other goods.
Note that old Suica cards will continue to work even once the penguin is gone.
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