Value Village ／ Before you come to Japan
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Japan went from cash to QR codes in about five years: PayPay stickers are now on noodle-shop counters, temple donation boxes and farm stands. Visitors see "PayPay / d Barai (d払い) / au PAY" everywhere and assume they can join in. Mostly they cannot — but the workarounds are good and getting better.
| Method | Works for short-term visitors? | Where accepted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayPay, d Barai, au PAY, Rakuten Pay | Generally no — need a Japanese mobile number and bank account/Japan-issued card; PayPay's tourist pilot has been limited | Everywhere | Some visitors with a Japanese eSIM number and foreign card get partway through sign-up; the balance top-up usually fails |
| Alipay / Alipay+ | Yes — Chinese and linked wallets (GCash, Touch 'n Go, Kakao Pay, TrueMoney, etc.) scan PayPay and Alipay+ codes | Most PayPay merchants, convenience stores, drugstores | Look for the Alipay+ sticker |
| WeChat Pay | Yes, at many merchants via interoperability | Convenience stores, chains, PayPay merchants | — |
| Contactless credit/debit (Visa, Mastercard, Amex tap) | Yes | Convenience stores, chains, transport gates in many cities, most places that show QR logos | The most useful single method. Check foreign-transaction fees |
| Suica / PASMO / ICOCA (transit IC) | Yes — physical card (regular Suica/PASMO sales resumed 1 March 2025 after the 2023–25 chip-shortage suspension; the tourist Welcome Suica is sold at airports, and the Welcome Suica Mobile iPhone app launched March 2025) or Apple Wallet / Google Wallet (iPhone; Android needs a Japanese-model phone) | Trains, buses, convenience stores, vending machines, many shops | Top up with cash at machines, or with a card in the Wallet app (foreign Visa often fails; Mastercard/Amex usually work) |
| Cash | Always | Shrines, temples, small restaurants, rural shops, festivals | Keep ¥10,000–20,000 |
[Verify] Current sign-up rules for PayPay and other domestic wallets; the list of Alipay+ partner wallets; Welcome Suica availability and the status of foreign-card top-ups in Apple Wallet.
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https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/money/
https://paypay.ne.jp/
https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/welcomesuica/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
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