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I know that Japan is primarily a cash society but I've heard that they've become more accepting of credit cards lately. Question is 3 parts:

  1. How common is credit card acceptance in major cities?
  2. What cards are more accepted?
  3. When they are accepted, do they use the stripe or do they use EMV and pin?
Daxxcat
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  • Related: https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/43228/are-american-express-credit-cards-widely-accepted-in-japan-specifically-osaka – JonathanReez Aug 30 '16 at 19:27
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    @JonathanReez Thanks, I did read that but I was hoping for more recent information. – Daxxcat Aug 30 '16 at 19:33
  • 7-11 has no problem with my Amex, just swipe (no signature). Smaller stores are a different matter. – Calchas Aug 30 '16 at 19:45
  • 7-11 ATMs accept most foreign cards so you will have no problems getting money out. However when using a card to pay bills at the register, there are some places that will not accept them. Due to the local abundance of credit cards, most of the time you will be able to pay by card. The most common are MasterCard, Visa, JCB. Amex and American Express and the places you are most able to use them are, family restaurants, supermarkets and large stores. – The Wandering Coder Aug 31 '16 at 00:09
  • Also of note: Discover and JCB partnered a few years ago to accept each other's cards, so you can use Discover anywhere in Japan that accepts JCB (if you can convince the cashier that the card will work). – josh3736 Aug 31 '16 at 17:06
  • 7-11 ATMs have had at least one period during which they did not accept foreign cards. I know because I arrived by ferry from South Korea and could not get bus fare and had to walk to town. So with this precedent, there is at least a small chance that it could happen again. ATMs can be quite a pain in Japan. Post offices are an even surer bet than 7-11 but are not as common, some have the ATM inside which is not helpful when the post office is closed, and some small rural post offices don't have an ATM at all. Citbank ATMs are another safe bet if you're in a big city. – hippietrail Sep 01 '16 at 14:42

6 Answers6

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  1. Credit cards are accepted in almost every large shop and restaurants. But you will find that many smaller shops, Mc Donalds and some other fast food chains, sale locations ( e.g. large shop puts up a sale in the subway area ) - all these places do not accept credit cards.

  2. Having to make a credit card myself - Visa and Master Card cards are most popular here. But as far as I could see - all cards are accepted. I wouldn't worry about that.

  3. In grocery shops and convenience stores they just swipe, all other places uses either a PIN or your signature. They'll ask which you prefer, although very-very often only in Japanese but they'll try to make an effort and explain using hands :)

Japan is NOT a primarily a "cash-society", it's just that it costs a lot of money to make a contract with the credit-card company and every transition will cost ~3% for fees, so smaller businesses just don't want to do it.

Additional tip: keep a 10 000 yen bill with you ( around 100$ ), you will not easily find a place to spend it, because expensive places will have credit-card support and places where you'll need cash won't cost you that much.

Creative Magic
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    Having just had my credit card wielding grandfather over, I realised he (well I) was having to pay in cash about 40% of the time. Last I checked, McDonalds did have support for credit cards (at least in Central Tokyo). – The Wandering Coder Aug 31 '16 at 04:08
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    I live in Tokyo for over 4 years now and I have a different experience - buying clothes, groceries, going to restaurants are all handled by a credit card. McDonald's, Subway and kiosks-sized shops are cash-only most of the time. Japan widely uses a cash-card with a commuter pass function called Suica, Pasmo and other,- these are sometimes accepted in places where credit cards aren't. But I doubt many people without experience would know to make a Suica (or similar) card. – Creative Magic Aug 31 '16 at 04:19
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    I have lived in Tokyo for 3 years and elsewhere in Japan for 3 years as well and we seem to have had very different experiences. I am fully aware of the payment methods in Japan (inc. 携帯お財布 etc.), however at least the McDonalds near my house and the 2 near work take credit cards. I ended up getting my grandfather a Suica card for the very reason that it was accepted where credit cards weren't, however even then there were cash-only situations. Some Subway stores (those in or around Osaka) accepted credit cards the last time I paid there however they are franchises so that could be why. – The Wandering Coder Aug 31 '16 at 05:20
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    Why keep a 10K bill if you're never going to get to use it? – Lilienthal Aug 31 '16 at 08:26
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    @Lilienthal Japan has a lot of very small shops with some interesting things (depending on what you're interested in) and ATMs aren't free so keeping some cash "just in case" is a good idea. Plus you won't be able to pay for a train/subway ticket without cash. In the end you might just bump into a vending machine selling miniature yoyo's that you've always dreamed of and you really need 200 yen to buy it, having some cash is really convenient and 100$ is well-over what you'd spend in a day buying snacks and traveling around Tokyo. – Creative Magic Aug 31 '16 at 08:53
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    @CreativeMagic Ah, so you're using the size of the bill as a mental barrier to prevent spending it unless you really have to. That's fair, but consider adding your comment to your answer to make it clear there as well. – Lilienthal Aug 31 '16 at 08:56
  • @Lilienthal I don't want to tell people how to spend their money, I can only give my opinion on what's a good idea :) Use your own judgement to decide what to do and how to use the tip ;) – Creative Magic Aug 31 '16 at 09:02
  • The advice to keep a 10kY bill is ridiculous. If you mean to say "Make sure you have some cash on you for places where you can't use a card", just say that. But a 10kY bill is a really bad choice for that because it's typically small expenses that will be in places that don't take cards, and now you're going to need a huge amount of change from the shopkeeper. – David Richerby Aug 31 '16 at 09:21
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    @DavidRicherby just a little bit earlier bought a Kirby toy for my son, it was around 300 yen. I've been given 5 neat bills for 9000 yen and 4 coins :) What are you even talking about? – Creative Magic Aug 31 '16 at 09:24
  • @CreativeMagic And how many times in a day do you think the shopkeeper can do that? Not many, I'll wager. – David Richerby Aug 31 '16 at 09:39
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    To me 10K bills are not that inconvenient after learning the fact that some train ticket vending machines allow you top-up 1K to your Suica (or other compatible IC cards such as ICOCA) by inserting a 10K bill and get nine 1K bills or one 5K + four 1K bills as changes. – KH.Lee Aug 31 '16 at 10:11
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    Spending a 10000-yen bill actually works. I paid for a 200-yen train ticket using one, and the vending machine happily gave me the 9xxx yen in change. Same at a convenience convenience store when I bought only 400 yen of food. Unlike America, Japan doesn't have a problem with rejecting large denomination bills due to fear of counterfeiting. – Nayuki Aug 31 '16 at 22:33
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  1. Card acceptance in major cities is generally good. All department stores (like Yodobashi) will take credit cards and most small shops will take them as well, no issues here. I still suggest keeping cash on you as you could get surprised.
  2. I had no issues using my MasterCard, I do not know about the others.
  3. In my experience, the stripe is used much more.
Robbie
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JS Lavertu
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  1. The credit card acceptance is generally bad compared to other major cities in North America, Europe, South Korea, and Australia. It is slightly worse than in Hong Kong and Singapore, but I don't think it makes a much difference here.

  2. As to the brand of cards, the order of prevalence is Visa, MasterCard, JCB/Amex (both in partnership), Diners, and UnionPay. However, the prevalence gap between MasterCard and JCB/Amex is quite large. So if you are concerned, carry either Visa or MasterCard (Visa is more widely used only slightly).

    UnionPay is rarely used here, but with the rise of the number of tourists from China, some department stores started to accept it.

  3. More and more stores are making a transition to EMV due to the potential scamming but there are still many places that use the stripe only. I don't know if there are any places that only accept EMV in my experience, so it is unlikely that you get denied by handing in a card without EMV chip.

    Also, most stores don't require you to enter PIN, especially for a small amount of purchase. The threshold is somewhere around 5,000 ~ 10,000 JPY. But it depends on each store, I think.

    Also, if you don't know or forget your PIN, they will kindly accept a signature.

If you are not sure what kind of stores accept it or not, here is a general standard:

  • Accept: department stores, large electronic shops (e.g. Yodobashi, Bic Camera), +3 star or above hotels, restaurants that cost 3,000 JPY or above per person, starbucks, leading convenience stores (7-11, Lawson), large supermarkets

  • Rarely accept: cheap, chained-cafe (except Starbucks), McDonalds, fast foods, cheap restaurants (mostly not chained), cheap local food shops

  • Never accept: small hospitals, a post office, transportation card (e.g. Suica, except those that are issued as a credit card, which foreign travelers should see it near impossible to create as a tourist)

Also, some restaurants and cafes only accept a card if you pay enough, around 2,000 ~ 3,000 JPY.

Blaszard
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  • You *CAN* charge your IC card with a credit card at an ATM... – The Wandering Coder Sep 01 '16 at 00:20
  • @TheWanderingCoder What are you talking about? Siuca? I don't know any Suica (or equivalent cards) that can be charged via a credit card except one that is issued by JR East. – Blaszard Sep 01 '16 at 13:52
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    Best answer thus far, very detailed and very true! – Creative Magic Sep 02 '16 at 00:57
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    Nimoca: Nimoca Credit Cards (Standard cannot be charged by credit card but can be charged with usage points); JMB Nimoca, Arekore Nimoca, All in One Nimoca. Sugoca: Sugoca Credit Card (Standard cannot be charged by credit card); JQ Card. Sapica: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Tokyu Card, Nissenren Card Hokusen Card, S Cort Card, Sapporo Hokuyo Card, Clover Card. Nice Pass: Entetsu Card. The Hokkaido / Sapporo Sapica card is about the only travel card in the country that accepts any type of credit card, whereas the other companies lock charges to their specific credit cards only. – The Wandering Coder Sep 02 '16 at 01:07
  • @TheWanderingCoder you ARE right, there are terminals that allow charging IC cards with a credit card as well as cash, but not all of the terminals. I wouldn't be surprised to see a person not knowing that. – Creative Magic Sep 02 '16 at 04:09
  • @CreativeMagic You are correct. The ticket machine deisplaying Credit Cards / クレジット　カード are the only ones you can use to charge your IC Cards on and even then, they can only be charged with the cards mentioned in my above comments.. – The Wandering Coder Sep 02 '16 at 04:10
  • @TheWanderingCoder So you are talking about a type of credit cards that must be issued by one of specific issuers in Japan? Then you are right; I used Bic Suica in the past which you can not only charge in ATM but is automatically charged when you cross over the gate but don't have enough balance. However, you cannot charge it using any credit cards not mentioned on your list, including all the credit cards foreign travellers use in their own country. If you are talking about this I agree, but you should not expect travellers to have these cards in advance. – Blaszard Sep 02 '16 at 05:45
  • @Blaszard Except for Spica, yes only Japanese credit cards will work when trying to top up your IC Card. Some travellers may have a Japanese credit card from a previous stay hence why I was protesting your use of "never accepted" when there is a chance they are. Saying something like "Non-Japanese Credit Cards" as a caveat would in my opinion have made it a bit clearer. When you say "all the credit cards foreign travellers use in their own country", I can't use Japanese credit cards in Australia in the same way, even though it is widely acknowledged that credit card acceptance is quite large. – The Wandering Coder Sep 02 '16 at 06:18
  • @TheWanderingCoder It is near impossible to create the card unless you stayed there for a long time with the suitable VISA. Also most Japanese credit cards still cannot be used to top it up. Since this is a community for traveling your claim deviates overly from the question that OP asked, IMHO. – Blaszard Sep 03 '16 at 10:37
  • @TheWanderingCoder I edited my question. Are you now content? – Blaszard Sep 03 '16 at 10:44
  • @Blaszard Just because it is a community for travelling, you should not assume that everyone has similar conditions when travelling. I am a dual national living in a third country and have never been to the country of my other nationality even though I have a passport from there. If I was to ask about the various options to travellers and locals I would require a different answer to someone who has no association with that country whatsoever. Further, to open a bank account in Japan, you need a visa of only 6 months or a year (depending on the bank). UK tourist visas for Japan are 6 months. – The Wandering Coder Sep 05 '16 at 00:28
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Acceptance

Places expects foreigners paying a large amount are more likely to accept credit cards, such as:

  1. Ticket office (but not vending machines) in major railway stations, e.g. JR West "Green Window".
  2. Convenience stores, e.g. FamilyMart, LAWSON, 7-11.
  3. Department stores.
  4. Amusement parks, e.g. Universal Studio Japan (USJ in Osaka).
  5. Taxis in major cities / urban areas.

However, you still need cash for having ramen, entering parks and temples, riding buses and for a lot of things. Make sure always have a good amount of cash with you. :)

Cards accepted

  1. JCB (Japan Credit Bureau)
  2. MasterCard
  3. VISA
  4. American Express

Other cards such as Diners Club and China UnionPay are accepted, but not as widely accepted as the aboves. For instance, ticket office of JR West and bag drop counters of Peach Aviatvion does not accept China UnionPay.

Using credit card in Japan

Usually stripe, some new terminals use EMVs. For some places like convenience stores, no signature is required for purchase under ¥10,000. Yet, I did not find any terminals accepts VISA payWave or MasterCard Contactless.

KH.Lee
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  • You can buy certain tickets through vending machines with a card. Visa and MasterCard Touch Payments are available in some places however it is still somewhat patchy as to where they are installed.. – The Wandering Coder Sep 01 '16 at 00:18
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Good answers already, but just to add my 2 yen:

  1. To withdraw money, the best ATMs are at Japan Post offices. Convenience stores ATMs do not always accept withdrawals, Japan Post ATMs always do, according to my experience. Japan Post offices are open less often, though.
  2. Some places take a fee for credit card (see my picture below). It is quite rare though.

Different price for credit card

Wikivoyage has a list of banks and ATMs showing what cards they accept and how much they charge in fees (yes some are free).

nic
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  • Where is the picture from? I'm highly certain that it is a tourist scam, given that it shows English only and charges so much. – Blaszard Aug 31 '16 at 10:25
  • Agree with @Blaszard. I have actually never seen this so it will be interesting to know where to avoid in future. – The Wandering Coder Sep 01 '16 at 00:20
  • @Blaszard: Might be! By "charging so much", you are talking about the 200 yen fee, right, not the total price of the out-of-picture item? I took this picture in Kappabashi, at a shop selling Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives. Kitchen knives are the last item I would put in my suitcase, but indeed the Wikivoyage article cites them as an article worth buying there. – nic Sep 01 '16 at 01:49
  • Ahhhh. That makes sense. Kyocera knives are among the most expensive ceramic knives in Japan. Also, it is Asakusa - one of the most touristy places in Tokyo. – The Wandering Coder Sep 01 '16 at 04:17
  • @nic I see. I have never visited Asakusa so I don't know how items are sold there in general, but would like to visit it at some time or another. – Blaszard Sep 01 '16 at 13:58
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I had no major problems with MasterCard for larger purchases in department stores, although lots of smaller places would not accept anything other than cash. Visa only works to get cash at 7-11, I've found no other place that accepts it.

Simon Richter
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  • Post offices ATMs and CitiBank ATMs. Most other ATMs only take Japanese cards and are horribly complicated. 7-11 has had at least one period in recent years when their ATMs did not accept foreign ATMs for a time. You never know if it might happen again. – hippietrail Sep 01 '16 at 14:52