About the ICOCA Card

Hello there,

Yes you can put your ICOCA card in any ticket machine and check remaining balance or charge it with extra yen if required. You can also ask the station staff to check it for you.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

Another thing, I read somewhere that ticket machines have instructions in English.

Is it the same for all ticket stations in Japan, regardless of whether it is located in a private or non-private railway station?

Hello again!

Yes this is pretty much true - that is not to say though - that you may occasionally find a machine which is Japanese only.