How "cash only" culture has grown on me

When I first moved to Japan in 2013, one of the things that regularly annoyed me was how difficult it would often be to pay by card. Japan might be a technologically advanced country, but there were plenty of restaurants, little shops, local businesses, and even some attractions where cash was the only option. I'd occasionally find myself caught short, wondering why somewhere couldn't just accept a simple card payment!

After more than a decade here, though, my attitude has changed quite a bit. I've actually grown rather fond of Japan's relationship with cash, and I can see some real benefits to it.

For starters, cash makes me waaaaaay more conscious of what I'm spending. There's also something reassuring about knowing I can still buy things if a payment network goes down or the internet stops working. Lots more businesses have embraced cashless payments in recent years, but cash hasn't disappeared, and I think that's a good thing.