From Eels to Eyeglasses – Exploring Japan’s Crypto Pay Revolution

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Although many Japanese are happy to propagate Western stereotypes that cast the country as a futuristic, neon-lit tech wonderland, bustling with IT-proficient techno-nerds, the secrets of Japan’s tech success are actually grounded in the unglamorous world of government policy.

In the postwar period, successive governments targeted growth industries in niche tech sectors. As well as actively fostering what have since become Japan’s tech conglomerates, the government has sought to create and fine-tune pro-tech legislation.

So, when the government last year took its biggest step yet toward ensuring a cryptocurrency-compatible future, amending its banking law and introducing the Virtual Currency Act, the move represented the continuation of a policy that dates back to the late 1940s.

Many smaller Japanese retailers had been accepting Bitcoin and altcoins for years beforehand, but last year’s legislation has persuaded some of the country’s biggest retailers to join the revolution.

Electric Dreams

The decision by electronics chain BIC Camera to allow crypto pay at all of its stores, and those of its affiliates, was arguably the biggest leap yet for crypto pay in Japan.

The initial decision came just three months after the government’s crypto legislation. And BIC seems genuinely taken aback by its customers’ thirst for crypto pay. The retailer had chosen to run pilots at stores that have a lot of Chinese customers – but was stunned to find that most of its crypto-paying customers are in fact Japanese.

Not to be outdone is BIC rival and fellow electronics vendor Yamada Denki, which said it would begin accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at two Tokyo flagships beginning January 27 this year, before beginning a nationwide rollout.

In fact, it is getting hard to find electronics retailers in Japan that do not take crypto. Gaming specialist Ark PC not only accepts Monacoin – it even gave away free limited edition Monacoin-themed memorabilia to customers settling their bills in the manga-motif currency earlier this year.

Other major franchises now accepting crypto payment include the likes of optician Megane Super and nationwide branches of the Tomiyoshi Music School.

If the likes of tech giant Fujitsu and commerce mammoth UFJ Mitsubishi have their way, crypto pay could become the norm in Japanese retail. The former is working on a pilot scheme with Japan’s biggest convenience store brand, FamilyMart, which incorporates blockchain-verified payments and QR code usage, basically paving the way for unmanned crypto pay.

UFJ Mitsubishi, meanwhile, has issued its own digital MUFG coin currency – as well as an automated convenience store in which employees can spend their MUFG coin tokens.

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