Which card to choose, provider by provider
If you have already settled on a bank, a telecom, an airline or a shop, you do not need to compare the whole market — you need to pick the right card in one lineup. These 28 pages cover 226 cards, each with a pick per use case, the fee and rate tables behind it, and the spend at which an upgrade pays for itself.
Pick a provider
Only providers with more than one card are here — a lineup of one has no decision in it, and those keep their issuer list instead.
| Provider | Cards | Annual fee | What actually decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi UFJ NICOSMitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. | 22 | ¥0–¥30,800 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| Credit SaisonCredit Saison Co., Ltd. | 21 | ¥0–¥55,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| ANA CardANA and partner issuers | 20 | ¥2,200–¥165,000 | Mileage earning, how often you fly, and whether a status tier is reachable |
| AEON Financial ServiceAEON Financial Service Co., Ltd. | 17 | ¥0 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| American ExpressAmerican Express International, Inc. | 14 | ¥13,200–¥165,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| Rakuten CardRakuten Card Co., Ltd. | 14 | ¥0–¥33,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| Sumitomo Mitsui CardSumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd. | 14 | ¥0–¥99,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| OricoOrient Corporation | 13 | ¥0–¥11,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| JCBJCB Co., Ltd. | 11 | ¥0–¥27,500 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| JRE Bank / ViewcardViewcard Co., Ltd. | 11 | ¥524–¥11,000 | Commuting and station-retail spend, and where the linked points are usable |
| JAL CardJALCARD, INC. | 8 | ¥0–¥34,100 | Mileage earning, how often you fly, and whether a status tier is reachable |
| Epos CardEpos Card Co., Ltd. | 7 | ¥0–¥30,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| Diners ClubSumitomo Mitsui Trust Club Co., Ltd. | 6 | ¥29,700–¥33,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| Idemitsu CreditIdemitsu Credit Co., Ltd. | 6 | ¥0–¥22,000 | Monthly litres and whether the discount is per-litre or in points |
| JFR CardJFR Card Co., Ltd. | 6 | ¥1,100–¥55,000 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| Luxury CardBlack Card I K.K. / APLUS | 6 | ¥55,000–¥242,000 | Whether you will use the credits, lounges and concierge the fee pays for |
| Life CardLife Card Co., Ltd. | 4 | ¥0–¥11,000 | Annual fee against ordinary earning, plus any milestone bonus you would reach anyway |
| NTT DOCOMONTT DOCOMO, INC. | 4 | ¥0–¥29,700 | Whether your phone or QR-payment plan qualifies, and the caps on the rebate |
| MI CardMI Card Co., Ltd. | 3 | ¥0–¥11,000 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| UCSUCS Co., Ltd. | 3 | ¥0–¥3,300 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| au Financial Serviceau Financial Service Corporation | 2 | ¥0–¥11,000 | Whether your phone or QR-payment plan qualifies, and the caps on the rebate |
| bitFlyerbitFlyer, Inc. | 2 | ¥0–¥16,500 | How the reward is paid, and the price risk you take by holding it |
| Mercari / MerpayMerpay, Inc. | 2 | ¥0–¥5,000 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| PayPay CardPayPay Card Corporation | 2 | ¥0–¥11,000 | Whether your phone or QR-payment plan qualifies, and the caps on the rebate |
| Seven Card ServiceSeven Card Service Co., Ltd. | 2 | ¥0 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| Takashimaya Financial PartnersTakashimaya Financial Partners Co., Ltd. | 2 | ¥2,200–¥11,000 | How much of your shopping goes to these stores, and sale-day rules |
| Tokyo MetroTokyo Metro Co., Ltd. | 2 | ¥2,200–¥15,400 | Commuting and station-retail spend, and where the linked points are usable |
| Tokyu CardTOKYU CARD, INC. | 2 | ¥1,100–¥6,600 | Mileage earning, how often you fly, and whether a status tier is reachable |
The deciding factor is derived from the use case most of the lineup is filed under. Fees include tax and are as recorded.
The eight things to compare
Do not rank by the advertised maximum return. Rank by the net annual value under your own spending, your own merchants, the redemption you would really use and the benefits you would really claim.
| Consideration | What to capture and compare |
|---|---|
| Eligibility and status | Age, residency, student or employment rules, a required account or membership, invitation-only tiers, personal versus business, and whether applications are open at all. |
| True annual cost | The annual fee, how the first year is treated, the waiver threshold, family and additional card fees, ETC fees, and any optional programme fee. |
| Ordinary earning | The base return on eligible spend, how spend is aggregated and rounded, which transactions earn less or nothing, expiry, and what one point is worth in the redemption you would use. |
| Conditional earning | Merchant and category multipliers, mobile-wallet routes, bank or telecom link bonuses, annual-spend bonuses, and the enrolment, caps and campaign dependence behind each one. |
| Benefits and what triggers them | Insurance and what activates it, lounge access and guest rules, dining, concierge and hotel benefits, shopping and device protection, and retail, rail or fuel perks. |
| Limits and controls | The individually assessed credit limit, cash-advance limit, bonus and earning caps, benefit-use caps, the foreign transaction fee, and installment or revolving conditions. |
| Fit and friction | The accepted network, app and instant issue, wallet support, family and ETC cards, how complex point transfers are, ecosystem lock-in, and support in a language you read. |
| Upgrade economics | The incremental fee against the incremental earning, plus milestone bonuses, insurance, lounge access, status and family-card savings — counting only what you expect to redeem. |
Apply them in this order: the rate on a card you cannot hold is irrelevant, and upgrade economics only matter once a tier is genuinely available to you.
The upgrade formulas
Every upgrade table on these pages applies these three formulas and nothing else, so you can redo any of them with your own assumptions.
| What it tells you | Formula | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Reward-only break-even spend | incremental annual fee ÷ incremental effective reward rate | The eligible spend at which the higher tier’s extra earning covers its extra fee, and nothing more. |
| Upgrade net value | incremental rewards + used credits + used benefits + family-card savings − incremental annual fee | Count a credit or benefit only at the value you would actually redeem, not at its advertised value. |
| Milestone expected value | milestone benefit value × probability you reach the threshold without changing how you spend | If reaching the threshold requires new spending, the milestone is a cost, not a benefit. |
Confidence drops whenever a return depends on a temporary campaign, a variable point valuation, a targeted offer, an invitation, or a credit limit nobody has published.
Important cautions
These apply whichever provider and whichever card you choose.
- This is a comparison guide, not approval advice. Issuers decide eligibility and credit limits, and nothing here predicts either.
- Never increase spending to reach a points threshold or a fee waiver. Interest and unnecessary purchases overwhelm rewards quickly.
- Use a conservative point value. The same point is worth different amounts as a statement credit, as merchant spend, as miles or as a limited campaign reward.
- Invitation, campaign, insurance and lounge terms change. Re-check the official terms immediately before applying.
- If you are a foreign resident, confirm accepted identification, name and address matching, Japanese-language requirements and any bank-account condition directly with the issuer.
Card facts are from the research database as of 2026-08-16; points and benefit records are from the 2026-08-17 pass. Fees, benefits and campaigns change — check the issuer page before applying.