Tobu Railway began operating Tokyo's first walk-through facial recognition ticket gates on July 15, 2026, at Ikebukuro Station's north gate and Ikitabashi Station on the Tobu Tojo Line, allowing commuters to pass through without pulling out their transit cards.
July 15, 2026 · Tobu Railway
Just Walk Through: Tokyo's First Hands-Free Face-Recognition Gates Go Live
Branded SAKULaLa , the system lets registered commuters pass at normal walking speed while a camera verifies their identity — confirmed by a short chime, no card in hand.
~8,000
section-pass holders targeted at launch
2
launch stations: Ikebukuro (north) & Ikitabashi
¥0
extra fee — PASMO commuter pass only
FY2027
target to license the model to other operators
A staged rollout toward the Tokyo debut
12
Nov 2025Tablet gates
→
1
May 2026Walk-through pilot
→
2
Jul 15, 2026
→
+2
By Sep 2026Funabashi & Magomezawa
How it works
Retrofitted onto existing gates — not replaced — for a lower-cost, faster path to deployment.
CAMERA
Panasonic Connect recognition engine captures the face at walking speed.
→
ENCRYPT (PBI)
Hitachi's Public Biometric Infrastructure converts images into feature data that can't be reconstructed.
→
DELETE + PASS
Images are immediately deleted; a chime confirms the match. Works with gates from Omron, Nippon Signal & Toshiba.
THE UPSIDE
Hands-free, smoother passage through crowded gates
Resolves the "stop-and-scan" friction of tablet gates
Aimed at easing rush-hour congestion
THE LIMITS
Masks, sunglasses, hats can block recognition
Users must still carry their PASMO pass
Only works at designated entry & exit stations
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