Cash or card in Japan? What you actually need to carry

Japan's cash reputation is out of date — but not wrong

Japan was famously cash-first for decades, and travel advice still repeats it. Reality has moved: contactless card payment is now standard in convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores, department stores, chain restaurants, hotels and taxis in every major city. In Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto you can go a full day without touching a banknote.

What has not changed is the long tail. These are still routinely cash-only:

• Small family-run restaurants and izakayas, especially the ones worth queueing for
• Ramen shops that take orders through a ticket vending machine
• Shrines and temples — entry fees, omamori charms, goshuin stamps
• Street-food stalls, local markets and festival stands
• Some coin lockers, small museums and rural bus routes
• Guesthouses and businesses in the countryside generally

The practical conclusion is not "bring cash" or "bring a card" but both: a card for the predictable spending, and enough yen that a cash-only door is never a problem.

IC cards: the third payment method you should set up

Suica, PASMO and ICOCA are prepaid contactless cards used for trains, subways and buses across Japan, and they double as small-payment cards in convenience stores, vending machines and many shops. Tap once and you are through the gate.

On an iPhone you can add Suica or PASMO directly to Apple Wallet and top it up with a card, which avoids hunting for a machine that accepts foreign cards. This is the single most useful setup step before a Japan trip, because it removes the two most frequent small-payment frictions at once: transport fares and ¥150 vending-machine drinks.

An IC card balance is yen you have already committed, so it is worth tracking. Scanning a price tag with JPY Converter before you top up gives you a feel for what a ¥5,000 balance actually represents in your own currency.

Can you pay in dollars or euros in Japan?

No. Unlike some tourist economies, Japan does not informally accept foreign banknotes. Shops, restaurants and transport operate in yen only. A handful of airport shops and a few hotels aimed at international guests may take dollars, but at a poor internal rate and with change in yen.

The related trap is dynamic currency conversion (DCC). When you pay by card or use an ATM, the screen may offer to charge you "in your home currency" instead of yen. Always decline and choose JPY. Accepting hands the exchange rate to the merchant's payment processor, which typically costs 3–7% more than letting your own bank convert. The offer is designed to look like a convenience; it is a fee.

Use JPY Converter to see what the official mid-rate says a purchase should cost, then compare with what your statement shows. The gap is what the conversion actually cost you — the guide to exchanging money in Japan covers how to keep that gap small.

Tipping, tax and other things that surprise visitors

There is no tipping in Japan. Not in restaurants, taxis or hotels. Leaving money on the table is more likely to cause confusion than pleasure, and staff may chase you down the street to return it. The price you are shown is the price you pay.

Consumption tax is 10% (8% on most takeaway food and drink) and is normally already included in the displayed price, though some shops still show the pre-tax figure in large type and the total in small type — worth a glance. Licensed tax-free shops can sell to short-stay visitors without consumption tax if you show your passport at the till.

Finally, cash handling has its own etiquette: money is placed on the small tray by the register rather than into the cashier's hand. It is a small thing, and getting it right is an easy courtesy.