Japan has got a lot better. I was there a couple of months ago, for the first time in over a decade. In Tokyo, every little restaurant I ate at took cards, which amazed me. Total reverse of last time when I needed to use cash all over the place. There are some perverse situations though, like the train ticket machines that accept credit cards for some kinds of tickets and not others. (And tickets to Haneda airport are one of the types which must be paid in cash!)