Is Japan a Cash Only Country?

Diving into the common misconception of Japan being a cash only country.

We've always hear a lot of people say you should stick with cash only in Japan. Truth is there is some value to that but not as much as you would imagine. Japan as you might imagine it is another country, complete with it's own culture and language. The social norms around transactions seem normal at first but come with a trace amount of etiquette and method. Modern methods of payment such as Near Field Communication or NFC/Radio Frequency Identification or RFID, chip and Apple/Google/Android pay, have not come about in this country until about 3-5 years ago. The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of how Japanese citizens pay for goods and services. Speculate as much as you want, whether the hubris of the "(surgical) mask," culture failed them or that they saw more tourism post pandemic, Japan has changed for the better when receiving payments from foreign sources. Let's dive deeper into how you can pay in Japan.

Before You Buy

Before we get into how you can pay, let's go over some etiquette that will save you from acting the fool.

• Always place your cards, coins and cash in the tray provided. It is considered rude to hand the money to them directly. Think of it as in the movies where people shove the cash at the service worker, not nice...is it?

• Keep your bills crisp or with no more than three folds and make sure it comes from an envelope or wallet. It is rude to disrespect the Japanese yen with anything less, worse, crumpling their bills.

• Whipping coins out from your pocket is also a faux-pas, keep it in a nice container or bag.

• Announce to the service worker what method you are going to use. Cash, (Genkeen). Card, (Kaa-do) or Contactless, (Tachee).

• If there's a machine and the service worker directs you to pay there go ahead.

• Not so much etiquette but when paying with cash always try to pay as closely to the amount as possible. Which helps with avoiding excess weight when carrying coins around.

Cash

Is Cash Still King?

Paying with cash can be done whenever, but, more importantly in more rural areas outside the cities where the businesses may not be used to foreign guests. Yes, cash is still king. You can get it any number of ways which we discuss in another post, but more importantly make sure you don't treat it like you would a buck (US $).

Hot Tip: Don't crumple your bills and shove it in your pocket, the Japanese as you would imagine are a culture of respect and believe if you don't respect the money, well it won't serve you well.

Restaurants especially will like to deal with cash exclusively, but there are some exceptions. The businesses in Japan are very well accustomed to handling cash and often have the predisposition to work with it so it is not a bad idea to carry some with you.

So, what is a appropriate amount of cash to carry on you? It will really depend on what you want to purchase, or where you are doing that day. At any given time we will have an assortment of bills totaling near ¥50,000. This usually will cover minor purchases under

¥1000 at smaller stores or convenience stores. It also can encompass the use at restaurants especially Sukiya, CoCo House and smaller venues that have vending machine meal coupons. Other than that, theme parks, department stores and high volume vendors will take card or other electronic payments.

Card Payment

Plastic Pays the Way?

Visa used to heavily advertise on TV in the States saying, "Visa, everywhere you want to be." In days past card was only accepted at major department stores, airlines and landmark train stations, like Shinjuku. Now, card is more frequently accepted at many retailers, arcades

and restaurants. This applies primarily to larger chain stores simply because they have the volume to cover their merchant fees that Visa and other credit card companies charge to use their services.

The thing about card payment, as well as Contactless Payment is when in doubt make sure you carry cash to cover the biggest payment you might have that day in the smallest business you visit.

Hot Tip: You would want to use the card as much as possible and reserve the cash for when it's actually needed, like at cafés, little mom and pop shops or street vendors.

That said, if you're visiting a lot of larger cities Card and Contactless Payment methods are

widely accepted. Many of the large train stations also accept payments for tickets, but when in doubt call for an attendant or go to a office, they'll typically take your card especially JR. But for trains in metropolitan areas you might want to consider our next item, Contactless Payment.

Contactless Payment

Can the New Kid on the Block Conquer All?

Probably the one tool in your arsenal that you want to have locked and loaded, contactless payment in any version has become the main method for payment in the city. There are several methods but the most widely accepted is IC card either digital wallet or

physical card. The IC card, mentioned in another article, is a Interconnected Circuit Card that is widely used throughout Japan mainly at ticketing gates. You can simply wave the card or phone over the receiver marked IC and it instantly transfers the money via wireless connection. These cards are limited in the balance value but are extremely handy for public transportation but can be used at any location with the IC logo. The main carriers are Suica, ICOCA and PASMO. See our article on IC Cards for more in-depth information.

You could also load your credit and bank cards on you digital devices. This for a lot of people is a wonderful go to method that blends Card Payment with Contactless. Apple, Google and Android all have wallet type apps that contain all your card information digitally

and is usually encrypted so that it only works with the RFID/NFC reader. You can use this method at most retailers. There are also talks of train stations accepting this method and IC cards for gate entry, but more to come on that in a future update, when it happens. Either way you pay it is important to note that one method does not cover all. You need a mixture to really find true convenience in Japan.

What Method Should You Use?

While all payment types have their pros and cons the most common is Cash. It is not always convenient to carry all your cash with you so our plan for success includes different mediums. Honestly we almost fully omit using plastic credit cards except to pull cash from ATMs. When we pay it's most time with Contactless Payment mainly because we all are fully attached at the hip with our phones. We reserve our cash for as little as we can because you never know when you might need it for the smaller shops.

This mentality however changes once we leave the city. Our indicator is when the trains start converting from 5 to about 3 cars and suddenly you can only see JR One-Man style trains around. Usually at this point we know our Contactless Payment will work sporadically then, Cash and Card become our main allies. Like Hiking I would utilize the buddy system, when in doubt carry two types just in case. Cash and Card OR Cash and Contactless. So, in this case for arguments sake: Cash undoubtedly remains King.