Why Japan still runs on fax, hanko and cash: a foreigner's survival guide

Why does Japan still use fax and seals? The government’s own answer is that many of its rules assumed paper. In 2020 it counted 14,992 procedures that required a seal, and some still asked for documents by post, fax or in person. Almost all of those seal rules were then set for abolition, and cash use is shrinking too. As of October 2026, though, foreign residents may still meet all three: a seal at some bank counters, a request to fax a form, and cash where cards aren’t taken.

Why does Japan still use fax machines?

One official explanation comes from the Digital Agency (デジタル庁). When it scrapped its last floppy-disk rule in 2024, it said analog rules that assumed analog methods had spread widely through society, and the push to remove them had been slow to start. Such rules set how documents had to be handed in, down to the medium: until June 2024, some still named floppy disks.

In a press conference on 13 November 2020, the minister for administrative reform, Taro Kono, said some government procedures still asked for paper sent by post, by fax or delivered in person. Analog rules like these sit in laws, ordinances and ministry notices, so each has to be reviewed one by one. The Digital Agency says its last floppy-disk rule took longer because it was slow to see that a legal change was needed, and because the ordinance change had to go through public comment first.

Fax ownership at home has fallen. A survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省) found:

The 2017 figure is the latest in the ministry’s 2018 white paper. Between 2009 and 2017, homes with a fax fell from more than half to about a third.

Do Japanese people still use hanko?

Yes, but for far fewer things. A hanko (判子) or inkan (印鑑) is a personal name seal, used in place of a signature. Many official forms used to require one.

That changed in 2020. The government reviewed every procedure in which a person or company had to seal a form for a ministry:

• 14,992 procedures required a seal, including attachments.
• 14,909 of them, over 99%, were set for abolition or for preparing abolition.
• 83 kept the seal. All of them involve a registered seal certificate (印鑑証明), a registration (登記・登録) or a seal registered with a bank (銀行への届印).
• Simple unregistered seals (認印) were to be dropped from all of these procedures. The minister’s reason: they don’t confirm who you are.

Family-register forms followed. Since 1 September 2021, a marriage registration (婚姻届) and other family-register notices no longer need a seal. You may still stamp them if you want to.

So the seal survives in three places: procedures that ask for a seal certificate, registrations, and the seal you register with your bank. For many foreign residents, the bank counter is where this comes up. Japan Post Bank, SMBC and MUFG ask for a seal at the counter, while SBI Shinsei accepts a signature or a seal. How to make one and register it is in our hanko guide for foreigners.

Is Japan still cash only?

No. But cash is still common enough that you need some. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (経済産業省, METI) published its 2025 numbers on 31 March 2026:

Two numbers float around, and both are correct. METI’s new domestic indicator gives 58.0%. The older international indicator gives 46.3%, because its total spending includes the imputed rent of owner-occupied homes (帰属家賃), a value statisticians assign to living in your own home. METI says that item is about ¥57 trillion, about 17% of the total.

METI says the government’s old goal of about 40% cashless by 2025 has been met. The new target, set in December 2025, is 65% by 2030 on the domestic measure (55% on the international one), and 80% in the long run.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) tells visitors that Japan “is very much a cash-based society, so keep cash on you.” It also warns that ATMs often charge withdrawal fees, not all are open 24 hours, and some in central areas can run out of cash.

What is the government changing?

The analog rules review is broad. Besides floppy disks, it covers rules that required visual checks by a person, on-site audits, periodic inspections, staff stationed on site, paper notices posted on a wall, in-person training and in-person viewing of documents. The Digital Agency published its follow-up on 17 August 2026: of 12,205 provisions classed as analog, 8,162 needed review, and the review of 8,133 was finished by the end of May 2026.

A rule change allows digital methods. It doesn’t remove fax machines or cash registers from offices and shops.

How do I cope with fax, hanko and cash as a foreigner?

Fax. If an office, agency or clinic asks you to fax a form, ask first whether email or an online form is accepted. If not, you don’t need your own machine. A 7-Eleven multi-copy machine sends a fax for ¥50 per page, to Japanese numbers only (A4, B4 or A3 paper).

Certificates without the counter. With a My Number card (マイナンバーカード), some cities, such as Koto City in Tokyo, let you print your certificate of residence (住民票) at a convenience-store machine. In Koto City it costs ¥200. It doesn’t work if anyone in your household is past their period of stay, and a copy showing the katakana form of your name (氏名のカタカナ表記) can’t be printed this way. See our guides to the My Number card and the certificate of residence.

Hanko. Get one early if you plan to open an account at a bank counter. Ask at the counter whether a signature is accepted instead. A seal registered at your city office is needed only where a procedure asks for a seal certificate (印鑑証明); our hanko guide explains when.

Cash. Carry some, and know where to get more. Seven Bank ATMs, mostly inside 7-Eleven stores, take overseas cards and work in English and 11 other languages. Japan Post ATMs are mostly in post offices, with some at stations and supermarkets. For day-to-day cards and apps, see cashless payments in Japan and credit cards for foreigners.

More guides: Hanko for foreigners · My Number card · Bank accounts for foreigners · Cashless payments in Japan