Here is an interesting show on Japanese banknotes. They also discuss the future of digital payments and how the Japanese public is currently resisting the cashless trend. Apparently, the vast majority of purchases in Japan still get processed with cash and digital payments have not really caught on yet.
edited to add: I read your post but haven't looked at the link yet. I'll look later after the current show on TV is turned off (hubs is watching Impossible Engineering and I don't want to interrupt...it's kind of interesting to listen to while surfing the internet). I left in 2011, so I am getting out of touch which won't stop me from trying to state an opinion . On the one hand I recall watching as people used their phones to pay their train fare...and that was back before the iphone came out. Between tours (about 5 years) buying a train ticket went from a money to ticket purchase to loading onto a card. For those not using their phone. On the other, there are some very deep cultural aspects where paper and money are treated in a specific fashion. No folded/crumpled bills. A very appropriate gift would be a traditional card with crisp bills fresh from the bank. Shoot, wrapping a present is an art form and the paper is treated very carefully. One did NOT tear open a package, it was unwrapped deliberately and folded carefully. I also remember carrying about $10K (but in yen of course) to an appointment to secure my rental for the next two years (a combination of first/last month as well as a finder fee IIRC). It was very important to be in cash, and each month's rent was documented in a book with a stamp. The household management books in the stores were very detailed ledgers. I can't see the cultural shift to no cash anytime soon. Very traditional. Perhaps younger people are fine with tech, but in the end, very traditional.
Couldn't get the video to play but found this on youtube: Japanology plus #124: Banknotes Apparently the Japanese really like banknotes. They like gifting them for all occasions in special envelopes that are very ornate and specific to the occasion. Good for them! They are not giving up their culture for technology. A really good video.
Ah, yes, I see now that playback for that video is disabled. Curses. Yes, search for "Japanology plus #124: Banknotes" on YouTube to find the video.
I just returned this Thursday from a business trip to Japan. I didn’t have any problems using a card at any stores or restaurants. I paid taxi drivers in cash, not sure if they took plastic. Surprisingly enough, when buying my wife a new watch at Yodobashi Camera I received a 5 percent discount for using a Visa card versus cash, on top of the 10 percent tax free discount for foreign passport holders. There did seem to be more cash in circulation and I noticed a good bit of wear on the one yen coins, much more than on our equivalent US pennies. On one occasion I was paying in cash at a convenience store and tried to give exact change but was one yen short. Unlike almost all similar transactions in the US, the clerk didn’t even offer to make up the difference and gave me 99 yen in change. Maybe that’s just their meticulous business culture at work. Also keep in mind that this was a short trip and @Stork would have much deeper experience with other types of transactions. Needless to say it was the 5 percent Visa discount that surprised me the most. Usually in this country it would be the other way around.
The show mentions that the Japanese government is trying to entice people to use more digital transactions, but they haven't really succeeded. That might explain the 5% discount mentioned above. It also mentions the tradition of fresh, crisp bills in fancy cards, with the exception of funerals, where the rule changes to a decently worn bill. I saw these cards in a Japantown store in San Francisco, but that's the nearest that I've come to seeing the real thing. They're pretty intricate and impressively bundled. Contrasted with Sweden, which the show claims now processes over 90% of transactions digitally, Japan processes around 20%, if I'm remembering the figure exactly. It was low, in any case. Apparently, Japan is the place to be for coin and currency collectors. Who knows where the trends will lead? I recently heard that the Salvation Army has started accepting digital donations, which might help because I never have cash on me anymore and I used to plop a dollar or two into the buckets when passing by. I'm still living a 99.9% cashless lifestyle. I did go to a cash machine for the first time in 2019 yesterday because I needed to pay cash for a personal transaction. It felt a little strange and within two hours I again had no cash in my wallet. Oh well.
