Originally Posted by
ainternational
I'm still amazed how in such advanced countries sometimes you need cash even for mainstream activities like a train / subway card. No big deal though. Appreciate all the replies, folks.
Cash is still king in Japan. There isn't a big market for consumer credit in Japan, for a variety of reasons. Credit cards have only recently become popular, as in the last 5 years, but are not yet mainstream. Japanese credit cards also tend to be set to act like charge cards too.