On June 4, 2026, a post titled 'Why do Japanese people prefer to use cash?' appeared on China's SNS Weibo, attracting various opinions from Chinese netizens.

The poster asked, 'If you use convenience stores, restaurants, or entertainment facilities in Japan, you'll notice that cash payment is still widely used. This is significantly different from China's consumption habits, where most payments can be completed with a single smartphone. Why is that?'

They then explained, 'As is well known, Japan is a rapidly aging society. There are many types of cashless payment, and it is often difficult for the elderly to operate them. Also, Japanese people tend to place a very high value on personal information and privacy. Many people feel resistant to having all information, such as what they bought, where they went for leisure, or where they ate, recorded.'

They also introduced, 'In Japan, there is almost no inconvenience in using cash itself. If you walk a little, there's a convenience store, and many stores have ATMs, so you can withdraw or deposit cash at any time. There's also almost no need to worry about counterfeit money. Some Japanese people believe that treating money with care and neatly organizing banknotes and coins in their wallets leads to good fortune.'

On the other hand, while stating, 'Of course, the spread of cashless payments is progressing in Japan,' they analyzed, 'Due to a high awareness of personal information protection, data collection and utilization are not easy, and as a result, companies must be cautious about developing services that utilize user data and investing in their popularization.'

Then, they asked, 'These factors combine, and many Japanese people probably tend to prefer cash. Nevertheless, I still think cashless payment is more convenient. Which do you prefer, cash or cashless payment?'

In response to this post, Chinese netizens offered other reasons, with comments like: 'Isn't cash preferred because it makes the depreciation of the yen and the decline in currency value less visible? It's hard to feel the impact even if they print more and more money,' and 'A system like Alipay was originally conceived in Japan. Japan also has mobile wallets. But many people think that with cash, it's easier to feel the amount spent, so they might overspend with electronic money.'

Negative opinions were also posted, such as: 'It's really inconvenient... There are quite a few stores that only accept cash...' 'Is the reason that it can't develop because of the declining birthrate and aging population? That's a convenient excuse,' and 'In this regard, I think Japan is indeed behind the times. The high fees for cashless payments might also be one reason.'

Meanwhile, opinions that evaluated the advantages were also received: 'That's not necessarily true. If it's a tourism-oriented country, you have to consider the convenience for foreign tourists. In fact, one of the reasons why more people choose Japan over China as a travel destination is the mobile payment issue (many places in China don't accept cash, which is inconvenient),' and 'In rural areas of Japan, there are still many vending machines on the roadside. They sell cigarettes and drinks, and it's not realistic to convert all of them to cashless. Also, if communication is cut off due to a typhoon, traditional vending machines can still be used.'

In addition, comments expressing doubt were also received, such as: 'Don't you know PayPay?' 'No, I don't think that's entirely true. Ride-sharing apps and bike-sharing probably didn't accept cash. Delivery was probably impossible too... (I'm a bit hazy on that),' 'Has the person who wrote this post really been to Japan? When I went, I only needed cash for temple admission fees. Everything else was cashless,' and 'Actually, in most places, you can pay normally with WeChat Pay and Alipay.' (Translation and Editing/Iwata)