When you go traveling to Japan, especially for the first time, one of the first things you will get is a Pasmo or Suica card. These prepaid cards are like Touch'n'Go cards in Japan which can be used to pay public transport fares, as well as payments at various shops and vending machines.
Today, Pasmo and Suica have issued a statement saying that they have suspended the sale of the cards, because they cannot accommodate the demand for the cards due to the growing tourism industry in the country.
The semiconductor chip issue that is still plaguing some industries at the moment also caused them to make a decision to stop selling the card. For now, tourists are advised to use the Pasmo and Suica applications, but one issue regarding this is that it may not be supported by devices from outside the country.
In June this year, these two companies have already stopped the sale of cards that do not need to be registered, but now, the Pasmo and Suica cards that are registered (name, phone number) have also been stopped from sale starting today.
For now, the only way to buy Pasmo and Suica cards is to buy them through a monthly plan, which isn't really worth it if you're a tourist who's only going to be in Japan for a week or two.
Unfortunately, for now it is also not known when Pasmo and Suica will be connected.