Cash or card in Japan? What to carry in 2026

Japan is not the cash-only country of old travel stories, and it is not a tap-everything country either. Cards are widely taken in the big cities. Small entrance fees, tiny restaurants and the bus in a country town still like coins. Carry both, and stop worrying about which one is correct.

At a glance: what to use where

• Hotels, department stores, chains and convenience stores: card.
• Shinkansen and Narita Express tickets: card.
• City trains, subways and most buses: an IC card, or in Tokyo and some other cities, a contactless credit card at the gate.
• Temple and garden entry, small restaurants and country buses: cash.
• Coin lockers and vending machines: IC card or coins.

Where a card works

Hotels, department stores, convenience stores, supermarkets, chain restaurants and most mid to high end restaurants take credit and debit cards. JNTO notes that cards work for shinkansen and Narita Express fares. Short train and subway rides are a different matter, which is where an IC card earns its place. City trains, IC cards, and the shinkansen covers that part.

Bring a physical card even if you pay with your phone at home. Japan Guide notes that a considerable number of stores still do not support contactless card payments. Stores do not always show the logos they accept, so ask before the food is cooked, not after. Keep your issuer’s phone numbers somewhere other than your wallet, as JNTO suggests, in case the card goes missing.

Tapping a credit card at the ticket gate

Since 25 March 2026, you can tap a contactless credit, debit or prepaid card at the gate and ride across eleven rail operators around Tokyo, with no registration. They are Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Odakyu, Odakyu Hakone, Keio, Keikyu, Sotetsu, Seibu, Tokyu, Tobu and Yokohama Minatomirai, some only at certain stations. Tokyo Metro takes Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay cards.

• Tap in and out with the same card or the same phone. A card and the phone carrying that card count as two different things.
• It charges the normal adult ticket fare. There are no child fares.
• JR lines are not part of it, and you cannot ride past the area onto a line that does not take it. Use an IC card for JR trains and anywhere else.
• It cannot pay a fare adjustment, so if something goes wrong, go to the staffed gate.

An IC card still does more. It works on JR trains, buses, lockers and at the convenience store, so most visitors carry one and use the credit card tap as a backup.

Where cash still wins

• Small sights: entrance fees at temples, gardens and small museums are often cash only.
• Small restaurants and shops: the smaller the place, the likelier cash is the only option. Rural towns lean the same way.
• Buses and trams: most take IC cards now. If you pay cash, notes above 1,000 yen may not be accepted, and the driver may not have change.
• Lockers and vending machines: many lockers want coins. Vending machines take coins and 1,000 yen notes, and newer ones take larger notes.

Large notes are not rude. Japan Guide says a 10,000 yen note is fine even for a small purchase, although smaller notes are appreciated in taxis, small shops, temples and shrines. Break a big note at a convenience store in the morning, then carry a few 1,000 yen notes and some coins for the day.

Save

Getting yen

A considerable number of Japanese ATMs do not take cards issued abroad. The two that are easy to find and do are Seven Bank, in 7-Eleven stores, and Japan Post Bank. Seven Bank alone runs more than 28,000 ATMs across Japan. Seven Bank lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, UnionPay, Discover and Diners Club, and you can switch the screen to English once the card is in.

Fees depend on your own bank as much as the machine, so ask your card issuer before you fly. Japan Guide also warns that many ATMs pause overnight and some close at weekends. Do not leave the cash run to the last hour of a Sunday.

An IC card such as Suica or ICOCA covers trains and buses, and it pays at most convenience stores, many vending machines and coin lockers. Top it up with cash at a station machine. It is the easiest way to stop collecting one-yen coins.

Plastic Suica and PASMO cards have been back on sale since 1 March 2025, after a card shortage paused them. Visitors can also pick up Welcome Suica, a card for overseas visitors that lasts 28 days, or use the Welcome Suica Mobile app on iPhone.

Shopping big? Tax-free shopping changed on 1 November 2026: you now pay the tax at the till and claim it back as you leave Japan. Tax-free shopping before and after 1 November explains the new paperwork.

Plan Sakura includes a yen converter and a nearby search for a store, an ATM, or a toilet, which helps on the evening you find the wallet is down to coins. Before that evening, get the phone online so the map works when you need it.