The old advice about Japan being "cash only" is outdated, but it has not disappeared entirely. Major hotels, department stores, convenience store chains, and most sit-down restaurant chains accept Visa and Mastercard. The places that still need cash are the ones you will visit constantly: the small ramen counter with eight seats, the shrine donation box, the neighborhood izakaya with a handwritten menu, the coin locker at the station, and the rural bus that only takes exact change or an IC card.
The practical approach: carry cash as your default, use cards where they work, and stop overthinking it. Japan is one of the safest countries in the world for carrying cash. Pickpocketing is extremely rare.
Where credit cards work
Visa and Mastercard are accepted at hotels, department stores (Isetan, Takashimaya, Daimaru), electronics stores, major restaurant chains, all convenience stores (7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart), train ticket machines, and most shopping malls. If a business has a register with a screen and a card reader, it almost certainly takes cards.
American Express works at most of these too, but acceptance drops at smaller businesses. JCB is a Japanese brand and has wide acceptance domestically but limited use outside Japan. If you only carry one card, make it Visa or Mastercard.
One note on payment terminals: some older machines only read the magnetic stripe, not the chip. If your card is chip-only (no stripe), you may occasionally hit a terminal that cannot process it. This is increasingly rare but still happens at older businesses.
Where you still need cash
Small restaurants with fewer than 10 seats. Izakaya in older neighborhoods. Shrine and temple admission fees and donation boxes. Market stalls and street food vendors. Coin lockers at train stations (some newer ones take IC cards, but many still need coins). Local buses in rural areas. Some taxi companies outside major cities. Public baths (sento) and smaller onsen. Vending machines that do not have an IC card reader (rare in cities, common in the countryside).
The pattern: anything run by one or two people in a small space is probably cash only. Anything with a corporate logo behind the counter probably takes cards.
ATMs that accept foreign cards
Most Japanese bank ATMs do not accept foreign-issued cards. The three reliable options are:
7-Eleven (Seven Bank ATMs): The gold standard. Every 7-Eleven has an ATM that accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Cirrus, and most foreign debit cards. The machines have English menus. No withdrawal fee between 7am and 7pm. A ¥110 fee applies between 7pm and midnight, and from midnight to 7am. There are over 25,000 7-Elevens across Japan, so you are never far from one in any city.
Japan Post (Yucho Bank ATMs): Found in every post office. Same foreign card compatibility as 7-Eleven, but operating hours vary. Most run 7am to 11pm on weekdays and Saturdays, closing earlier on Sundays (around 9pm). Smaller post offices may have shorter hours. Not as convenient as 7-Eleven, but useful in small towns where there is a post office but no convenience store nearby.
Lawson (Lawson Bank ATMs): Newer machines that accept foreign cards. Not every Lawson has one yet, but coverage is expanding.
ATM tips
Always decline the currency conversion option when the ATM asks. This is called dynamic currency conversion and the exchange rate is terrible. Select "charge in JPY" (or "decline conversion") to get your bank's rate instead, which is almost always better.
Your bank at home may charge its own foreign withdrawal fee on top of any ATM fee. Check before you leave. Some banks (Schwab, certain credit unions) reimburse all ATM fees. If yours does not, minimize withdrawals by taking out ¥30,000–50,000 at a time instead of small amounts.
How much cash to carry per day
| Budget Level | Daily Cash | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Budget (¥8,000–12,000/day) | ¥8,000–10,000 | Meals at small restaurants, transit top-ups, temple entry, vending machines |
| Mid-range (¥12,000–20,000/day) | ¥10,000–15,000 | Same as above plus izakaya dinners, some shopping, onsen entry fees |
| Comfortable (¥20,000+/day) | ¥15,000–20,000 | All of the above. Hotels and nicer restaurants usually take cards, so extra cash is mostly buffer. |
A reasonable baseline: withdraw ¥30,000 when you arrive and replenish at 7-Eleven whenever you drop below ¥5,000. You will not run out, and you will not carry an uncomfortable amount.
IC cards: Suica, Pasmo, and tap-to-pay
An IC card (Suica, Pasmo, ICOCA, or any regional variant) is a rechargeable contactless card that works on trains, buses, vending machines, convenience stores, and many restaurants and shops. Tap in at the train gate, tap out at your destination, the fare is deducted automatically. No fumbling with ticket machines.
IC cards are cross-compatible nationwide. A Suica from Tokyo works on buses in Kyoto and trains in Osaka. The card itself is ¥500 (refundable deposit) and you load it with cash at any train station machine.
Digital IC cards: You can add a Suica to Apple Wallet or Google Pay and load it from your phone. This is the most convenient option. One important note: foreign Visa cards currently do not work to charge digital Suica. Foreign Mastercard and Amex are more reliable. If your card does not work digitally, load the card with cash at a station machine by placing your phone on the card reader.
Beyond transit, IC cards work as tap-to-pay at convenience stores, vending machines, coin lockers (newer ones), and many chain restaurants. It is the fastest way to pay for anything under ¥1,000.
Tax-free shopping
Non-resident visitors can buy goods tax-free (no 10% consumption tax) at participating stores. Look for the "Tax Free" signs, usually in electronics stores, department stores, drug stores, and souvenir shops.
The minimum purchase is ¥5,000 (before tax) per store per day. You need your passport. The store will either attach a receipt to your passport or register it electronically. Consumables (food, cosmetics) must leave the country unopened. General goods (electronics, clothing) have no such restriction.
November 2026 change: Starting November 1, 2026, Japan is switching to a refund-based system. You will pay the full price including tax, then claim the refund at the airport before departure. The ¥5,000 minimum stays the same, but the sealed-bag requirement for consumables goes away, and you may be able to combine purchases across multiple stores. If you are traveling after November 2026, expect a different process at checkout.
The savings are real on bigger purchases. A ¥50,000 camera saves you ¥5,000 in tax. For small purchases under ¥5,000, do not bother. The time spent at the tax-free counter is not worth the few hundred yen saved.
Tipping
You do not tip in Japan. Not at restaurants, not in taxis, not at hotels. Leaving money on the table will confuse your server, who may chase you down to return it. Service is included in the price. This applies everywhere, from the corner ramen shop to high-end kaiseki.
The exception: some traditional ryokan have a custom of tipping the nakai-san (room attendant) with ¥1,000–3,000 placed in a small envelope. This is not expected and most guests, including Japanese guests, do not do it. If you want to, place the envelope on the table when you arrive, not at checkout.
The 2026 reality vs. old advice
Five years ago, "bring lots of cash to Japan" was standard advice. That has shifted significantly. Contactless payment adoption has accelerated. Many restaurants that were cash-only in 2019 now accept cards or QR code payments. Convenience stores have been card-friendly for years. Train stations are fully cashless-compatible with IC cards.
What has not changed: the small, independently run places that make Japan special. The eight-seat ramen counter, the family-run izakaya, the neighborhood sento. These places are still cash. And they are the places you will eat at most often if you are doing Japan right.
The practical reality is that you need both. Cards for the big stuff (hotels, shopping, transit passes), cash for the daily stuff (meals, temples, small purchases). Neither alone is sufficient. Both together cover everything.