Is it because of disasters that Japan is becoming a cashless society? Isn't it because you're late?

Japanese society is a cash economy! There are two reasons for this.

There is a strong trust in cash (counterfeit money is well taken care of)
Because of the many disasters

Japan has a lot of disasters, such as earthquakes, heavy rains, tsunamis, etc. There is always a risk that the infrastructure will be shut down.

If there is a major power outage or if the internet connection is cut off, the inability to shop is a big problem.

In fact, in our neighboring country, China, the infrastructure stopped during a disaster, so the money managed on the Internet could not be withdrawn and transactions could not be made.

In Japan, where there are many disasters, going cashless will make it impossible for people to use their money when they want to.

The response to a disaster is perfect.

When a disaster strikes, the Self-Defense Forces are dispatched and the infrastructure is quickly restored.

But it's not good if economic activities are stopped in the meantime.

If the cashless system, which cannot be used without electricity, becomes too widespread, we will be in trouble.

It will lead to social confusion, such as not being able to shop during a major power outage.

Because of this potential concern, we will not be able to go completely cashless.

Protection against cyber attacks

It's also a way to prevent the society and economy from becoming unsustainable when there is a power outage or internet shutdown.

It will be important to use cashless payment and cash economy.

If radio waves are blocked, it would be impossible to shop.

The damage to society is expected to be quite large.

Therefore, it is dangerous to stop cash payments completely.

If you can use cash, you don't have to worry about not being able to use the Internet or electricity.

There is also the possibility of being hacked and having your money stolen.

In the case of cash, they can only take what's there, but there are cases where money managed on the Internet can be uprooted.

I wonder if this is the same as online banking?

It's better to use both properly.

The reason why cashless banking is happening all over the world is to reduce the problem of counterfeit money, robberies and other crimes.

The other reason is simply to improve efficiency.

The global trend is toward cashless transactions.

In Japan, where advanced anti-counterfeiting technology is used, there is little need to go cashless.

Suica has been in use since 2001, but cash has not completely disappeared from the market because there are no counterfeit bills, and the infrastructure for credit card and FeliCa payments is in place.

It is up to the user to decide which to use.

It is more convenient to use both.

For personal transactions, cash is more convenient.

Summary

The reason why Japan has not become a cashless society is not simply that it is lagging behind.

It is not good to be dependent on a system that cannot be used when counterfeit bills are not circulating, infrastructure or internet connection fails, or when the power goes out, to the extent that you have to completely part with cash.

That's why we use different systems, or rather, we make sure that users can use both.

In the countryside, people don't use cashless payment systems unless they feel the need to.

Personally, I think it would be convenient to have Suica payment system at events like doujin fair.

Cashless payment is also possible for individuals because there are register applications and devices.

It's not that Japan is falling behind, but rather that the world is making extreme progress.

If there is a cyber-attack, it would be a complete disaster, wouldn't it?

I wrote this article because I read a news article about a disaster in China where cashless payment was not available and people ended up bartering.

It seems that there are many countries that don't anticipate that the latest technology will malfunction.

When a new technology spreads, the old technology is thrown away.

Japan doesn't do that, and keeps the old technology if it can be used.

I guess that's the reason why we haven't gone completely cashless.

So long, (^ω^)ノシ

Original text (Posted on August 26, 2021, at 5:00 p.m.)

https://trivia-and-know-how-notes.com/japancashlesspaymentdelay/

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)