"still"
I take a reliable CC and cash any fucking day over Apple and Google Pay or any shit payment "app" like Revolut which simply blocks you out of your account if on a device they seem to not like / that is not attested, while preventing browser-based usage.
You stupid tech bros. Appps, apps, apps, everything via an app.
Even the Tokio metro paper tickets via cash work well. No phone needed!
You realize you're posting this on Hacker News, yes?
However, major Japanese cities are increasingly allowing credit card tap to pay for transport, Osaka Metro is already 100% on board and Tokyo has started trials. There's a long tail of minor companies that will likely take forever though.
You can get to a significant portion of the network... So long as you don't have to take a JR train.
My only complaints about Contactless Cards from Visa/Mastercard/etc. Is that they're significantly slower than FeliCa. I can sprint through a gate with my Pasmo; I have to stop with my Visa.
For Visa, the closest transaction processing happens in Colorado. So they're slooooooow.
Disclaimer: Fmr Visa, current PayPay employee. I hate payments.
An Indian friend of mine (who lives in the US) told me it's similar to when he visits family in India; none of the digital transit cards work for him because the system won't accept his US payment cards.
(I have an Android phone which has the right FeliCa hardware, but it's disabled in software so Google doesn't have to pay the licensing for it.)
I guess it's down to licensing for the FeliCa smart card system or something? I will say, as a privacy person, I'm pretty jealous of the ubiquity of IC card payments there. You can buy the card at a kiosk with zero KYC and top it up with cash at the same kiosk. Since it's a stored-value system, it works offline, and you get the convenience of paying with a card with nearly all of the anonymity of paying with cash.
[0] https://xdaforums.com/t/global-pixel-device-unlock-felica-su...
Also, non-Tokyo transit systems often support VISA tap and pay.
A visitor Suica card (that you can buy at the airport and refill with cash in seconds), a VISA, and cash (that you can get at any ATM with a debit card) is 100% sufficient for travel in Japan.
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The cash part of it is non-negotiable, though. Many merchants are cash-only. Presumably, handling large amounts of cash works fine in a society where the risk of getting robbed at gunpoint is actually zero [1], and where the police are ready to use very persuasive methods to maintain that 99% conviction rate.
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The real frustration is that buying rail tickets online inevitably triggers an extra layer of VISA verification (2fa code through SMS or email), which usually works fine, but has already shat the bed for me once, requiring a chat with my card's CS rep. Which fucking sucks when you don't have a phone # that works.
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[1] While the risk of some cutpurse ganking your wallet is so near-zero, it's a rounding error.
