Perhaps that was a poor choice of words. All I meant was that the stereotype provided me with the initial suspicion that it just couldn't be correct that credit card usage is uncommon in Japan. What I actually imagine to be the case is based on the further research I've done (e.g., here and here), which indicates that while CC usage is not as common in Japan as in the US, it is still very frequent, and almost all major hotels, restaurants and stores accept them.