If there's one thing the Japanese love, it's Red Tape that creates jobs for people. What you didn't see going on in the back end was a bunch of people passing your charge receipt around, bowing at each other while they signed and stamped it. Why? Who knows, but if you look at banks, travel agencies and post offices and watch the people behind the counter you'll see 3-4 people doing the job that one person and computer would do in the US.