Cash Not Accepted

Today I found a deli in my neighborhood in Tokyo that didn't accept any cash. A huge surprise. I had to read the sign twice to make sure I understood it correctly. No cash! Never thought that would happen here in Japan in my lifetime.

Personally I'm all for cashless. Sweden (which is like my second home) is a pioneer in cashless payments and years ago they basically got rid of cash in their daily lives. A lot of restaurants and shops don't accept any cash. When you go out to eat or shop in Sweden, you just bring your mobile phone and a credit card. No need to bring a wallet. It's actually pretty liberating. I visit Sweden every year, and during my 1-2 week stay, I usually never touch or see any cash.

Japan on the other hand is a cash dominated society. People put huge trust in cash, and some people refuse to use credit cards. Many shops don't take credit cards so you always have to carry some cash with you, if you intend to buy something.

This was slowly starting to change with the introduction of QR code payment apps. Right now in Japan there are dozens of different QR code payment services like PayPay, LINE Pay, Rakuten Pay etc. And it seems like something new pops up every few months. These apps lowered the bar for cashless payments.

On top of that, the pandemic changed people's perspectives, and now many people see cash as something extremely dirty and they don't want to touch it. Supermarkets encourage people to go cashless to reduce the risk of infection for their staff. I believe this has accelerated the transition to a cashless society.

That said, I was not prepared to see a shop that completely eliminated the use of cash. I didn't think that was possible yet in Japan. Interesting times, indeed!