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July 02, 2026
 

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CASHLESS

The European Union will move one step closer on Tuesday to creating a digital euro when EU lawmakers hold a long-awaited vote on the virtual currency.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 23, 2026
EU looks to digital euro to cut reliance on U.S. payment technology
European officials often point to Washington’s 2025 sanctions against International Criminal Court judges to illustrate the grip of U.S. firms.
As fraud involving mobile payment apps grow increasingly sophisticated, PayPay has adopted an artificial intelligence system dedicated to detecting fraudulent transactions and assigned staff for the effort.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2026
Man with possible tokuryū ties arrested over mobile payment fraud
The man reportedly told police he got involved in the scheme when he applied for a job a few years ago after seeing a recruitment notice on X.
An expressway toll gate in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, that only accepts cars equipped with ETC systems
JAPAN
May 6, 2026
ETC-only expressway gates increasing as Japan ditches cash toll payments
The number of interchanges that do not allow toll payments with credit cards and cash is increasing as Japanese operators aim to complete the transition by fiscal 2030.
Alipay has been mentioned by legislators in discussions about the use of foreign payment apps in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 10, 2026
Chinese payment apps raise questions in Japan
Legislators and regulators wonder if the apps are being used to bypass the domestic financial system.
Tokyo-based PayPay priced the initial public offering of American depositary receipts at $16 apiece for its U.S. stock exchange debut.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2026
PayPay and SoftBank raise $879.8 million in payments firm’s U.S. IPO
It is the biggest listing for a Japanese company on a U.S. stock exchange in a decade.
Beverage companies have been forced to rethink the vending machine business.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 12, 2026
Is Japan pulling the plug on vending machines?
Competition and cost-consciousness conspire against the ubiquitous, and legendary, beverage sales channel.
PayPay and a SoftBank Group unit aim to raise up to $1.1 billion in what would be the largest-ever U.S. IPO by a Japanese company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2026
PayPay and SoftBank seek $1.1 billion in payments firm’s U.S. IPO
The digital payments firm’s initial public offering is expected to price on March 11.
PayPay's Nasdaq listing could be the largest ever by a Japanese company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2026
PayPay files for U.S. IPO and Nasdaq listing
The biggest mobile payments service in Japan is also seeking to expand its business in the U.S.
Noritaka Okabe, CEO of JPYC, has said that stablecoin issuers can become major buyers of government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 5, 2026
Stablecoins likely to be a factor, not a game changer, in Japan’s bond market
Issuers might not buy up enough long-term debt to make a big difference.
The year-end balance of bank notes in circulation in Japan fell for a third consecutive year amid the rise of cashless payments, according to data released Tuesday by the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 31, 2025
Japan’s year-end balance of bank notes in circulation falls for 3rd straight year
The declining trend emerges as consumers embrace cashless payments.
East Japan Railway displays a concept graphic for its Suica Renaissance strategy at the Mass-Trans Innovation Japan event last month at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 21, 2025
Teppay is key to JR East’s growth strategy as Suica e-money loses ground
Data about shopping and travel habits are essential for the company’s real estate and urban development businesses.
SBI Holdings subsidiary Shinsei Trust and Banking is set to issue a yen-based stablecoin next year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 16, 2025
Japan’s first bank-backed yen-based stablecoin could be available by June 2026
The hope is that it will be used for the settlement of payments locally and globally
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 16, 2025
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
Since Suica’s introduction in 2001, the penguin has featured on transit cards and apps that are used daily by the tens of millions who traverse the world’s largest metropolis.
Noritaka Okabe, CEO of JPYC, acknowledges a number of potential risks related to stablecoins.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 14, 2025
Stablecoins: Boring goes big, and now in Japan
They are designed not to fluctuate in value, and that’s precisely what makes them attractive.
Mobile Suica is being improved so that it is more useful in an increasingly cashless society.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2025
Penguin-less Suica to take on PayPay in payments with QR codes and higher limits
Balance limits will go from ¥20,000 on the current e-money system to ¥300,000.
Noritaka Okabe, head of Japanese startup JPYC, at a news conference for the first yen stablecoin in Tokyo on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 27, 2025
JPYC, world’s first yen stablecoin, is issued
One-second transfers costing less than ¥1 could become a reality.
The Slussen transport hub in Stockholm. Nordic and Baltic governments are increasingly concerned about Russian "hybrid war” attacks — low-level but highly disruptive tactics that disrupt infrastructure and services.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2025
Sweden’s cashless society could be more vulnerable to hybrid war attacks
With 90% of transactions in the country being done digitally, cyberattacks that couple with psychological operations can spark widespread panic.
A sightseeing cart drawn by a water buffalo in Yubu Island in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
Contactless payments to become option for Okinawa water buffalo cart rides
With the contactless payment option, the water buffalo cart operator’s ticket counter work is expected to become less burdensome and more efficient.
Payments using the PayPay app will soon be possible in South Korea.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2025
SoftBank’s PayPay to become available in South Korea as company looks outward
Japan’s largest mobile payment platform decided on South Korea because it is the most popular country for people in Japan to visit.
A person holds a Binance cryptocurrencies QR code at a store in La Paz, Bolivia. Binance is favored in the country for its low fees and educational resources for new users.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
In land of 25% inflation, crypto is starting to replace money in Bolivia
From small coffee shops to large corporations, signs of cryptocurrencies being rapidly adoption are everywhere in the landlocked nation of 11 million in South America.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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