Can I Use My Credit or Debit Card in Japan? Cards, Contactless and Cash

Yes, you can use a foreign credit or debit card in Japan, and on most trips it will pay for the bulk of your spending. But it will not pay for everything. This guide gives the short answer, explains which card networks work, how contactless and phone payments fit in, what the cashier is asking you at the till, why you should always choose yen, what to expect from Revolut, Wise and ordinary bank cards, and where cash is still the safer option. Facts that can change were checked on 21 October 2026, so confirm anything important with your bank and the official pages at the end.

The short answer

• Yes in cities and at big names: hotels, department stores, shopping malls, electronics shops, drugstores, supermarkets, chain restaurants, airports, major stations and convenience stores.
• No, or not reliably, in a meaningful minority of places: small family-run restaurants, shrines and temples, some ryokan, rural buses, coin lockers, festival and market stalls and some ticket machines.
• The Japan National Tourism Organization says international credit, debit and prepaid cards are generally accepted nationwide, that some shops do not show their card logos so you should ask before paying, and that cards are not always accepted for short train and subway fares (checked on 21 October 2026).
• The practical plan: pay by card wherever you can, keep an IC card for local transport, and carry a modest amount of yen for the places that only take cash.

Which cards work

Visa and Mastercard are the safest pair. Japan has its own network, JCB, and other networks work at many but not all places. A card logo on the door is a good sign, not a guarantee: a terminal can still refuse a particular card.

Contactless and phone payments

Contactless payment is called touch payment (タッチ決済) in Japan, and it has spread quickly. You hold a contactless card or a phone with a card added to its wallet against the reader, instead of inserting the card.

• A Visa or Mastercard in Apple Pay or Google Pay is the easiest version to try. Look for the contactless symbol or the words タッチ決済 on the terminal.
• Not every shop supports it. If the cashier says no, insert or hand over the physical card instead.
• Tell the cashier how you want to pay before they ring up the sale, because many tills need to know first: 「カードでお願いします。」 or 「タッチ決済でお願いします。」
• Keep a physical card as well as your phone. A flat battery, a broken screen or a terminal that will not read your phone leaves you with nothing.

Japanese e-money and QR payments

This is a separate world from your Visa or Mastercard, and you do not need it to travel comfortably.

• Transport IC cards (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA and others) are prepaid. You top them up, tap them on trains and buses, and use them at many convenience stores and vending machines. Some work from a phone wallet.
• Japanese e-money (電子マネー) brands are built on the same idea: prepaid value, tap to pay.
• QR code payment apps such as PayPay are very popular with residents, but they typically need a Japanese bank account or a Japanese card to set up, so short-term visitors often cannot use them. Check the app's current rules before you count on one.
• An IC card is a handy complement to a card, not a substitute for yen: it will not pay the shrine, the stall or the small restaurant.

Our guide to IC transport cards in Japan explains how to get, top up and use Suica, PASMO and ICOCA.

At the till: the questions you will hear

• 「一括でよろしいですか。」 (or 「一括払いでよろしいですか。」) means “Paying in one go?”. Answer 「一括で」 or 「はい」. The alternative, instalments (分割払い), is something you almost never want on a visit.
• Sign or PIN. Some terminals ask for a PIN (暗証番号), others for a signature (サイン), and tap payments for small amounts often need neither. Know your card's PIN before you fly, because a few terminals and every ATM withdrawal need it.
• The cashier may hand you the terminal to insert the card yourself, or take the card and insert it for you. Both are normal.
• You will be handed your card back together with the receipt (and a card slip). Keep them until you have checked your statement.

Always pay in yen

Some terminals and ATMs offer to charge you in your own currency, for example euros. This is dynamic currency conversion (DCC). It looks convenient, but the shop or machine sets the exchange rate and often adds a margin, so the price is usually worse than letting your bank convert. When you are asked, choose yen (JPY, ¥). If the screen is only in Japanese and you cannot tell, ask 「円でお願いします。」 (“In yen, please.”). To see what a yen price means in your own money, use our currency converter.

Try the currency converter to turn a yen price into your own currency before you pay.

Revolut, Wise, N26 and similar cards

Travel-friendly digital cards are popular with visitors because they usually convert at a rate close to the market rate and make it easy to freeze a card from the app. Plans differ, so we describe the mechanisms here and not the numbers.

• Exchange rate: many of these cards use a rate near the interbank rate, but some add a markup at weekends when markets are closed. Check how your plan treats weekend conversions.
• Monthly allowances: free currency conversion and free ATM withdrawals are often capped per month on the free tier. Check your plan's current limits before you travel.
• ATM withdrawals: you may pay a fee once you pass the free allowance, on top of any fee charged by the ATM operator in Japan.
• Topping up: put money in the account before the trip and keep a small buffer, because a card that cannot cover a payment gets declined.
• Backup: carry a second card from a different bank or provider, in case one is blocked, lost or declined. We did not fetch any provider's current fee page for this article, so look at your own provider's official pricing.

Portuguese bank cards

If you are travelling from Portugal, your bank card needs to be an international one.

• A Multibanco-only card does not work abroad. You need a Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card, which is normally marked on the front or back.
• Tell your bank you are travelling, or check that your banking app lets you switch on payments and withdrawals outside Europe, so the card is not blocked by fraud checks.
• Enable international payments and contactless payments in the app, and check your daily limits for purchases and withdrawals.
• Many Portuguese banks charge a foreign-currency or foreign-withdrawal fee. Look at your bank's price list (folheto de comissões e despesas) for the current figures, because we did not verify any.
• Know your PIN and keep your phone number up to date, since some banks send a confirmation code by SMS for online payments.

ATMs, briefly

Foreign cards can withdraw yen at the ATMs of Seven Bank (in 7-Eleven stores), Japan Post Bank (post offices) and others such as Lawson and Aeon. There are normally two layers of cost: a fee from the ATM operator and a fee from your own bank. The limits, hours and fee amounts differ by card and by operator, so we kept them in a separate guide.

For which ATMs to use, the limits per withdrawal and how much cash to carry, read our guide to how much cash to bring to Japan.

Where cash still matters

What to carry

• Two cards on different networks (for example one Visa and one Mastercard), kept in different places.
• At least one physical card, not only a phone wallet.
• Some yen in cash, with a coin purse, for the places above.
• A transport IC card, if you plan to use trains and buses.
• Your card's PIN, memorised or stored safely and not written on the card.
• Your bank's emergency number for lost or stolen cards, saved in your phone and also noted offline.

If your card is lost or stolen

• Freeze the card in your bank's app straight away; most banks and digital providers let you do it in a few taps.
• Call your bank's emergency number for lost cards. Find it in your banking app before you leave, because a number on a website may not work from abroad.
• Order a replacement if you can, and ask whether your bank can send a card to your address at home or whether it offers an emergency card.
• Use your second card for the rest of the trip, and report the loss to the police if your insurer or bank asks for a report.

Japanese words for paying by card

Related reading: our convenience store Japanese covers the questions at the konbini till, and our tax-free shopping guide explains what to do with your passport and card when you shop.

Official information

Facts about acceptance and ATMs change, and these are the pages we fetched on 21 October 2026. The Japan National Tourism Organization has a page on credit cards in Japan. Seven Bank lists the cards, service hours and limits for overseas cards and its ATM service for overseas cards. Japan Post Bank has an International ATM Service page. We did not fetch any card provider's fee page, so check your own bank's or provider's current terms.