This is no longer true. With the advance of "cashless" systems that were heavily pushed and promoted by the government, cash payments have dropped significantly![0] Cashless payments now sit near 50%, up from 16% 10 years ago.

[0]https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2025/0331_001.html

But not the anonymous, offline, accessible payment systems this thread is about.

The online, ad infested phone-app-only, less accessible "cashless" systems like paypay.

Even today the only place you can buy food with your pasmo/suica card is at the convenience store. Why is that?

From my experience, apart from small restaurants and yatais (basically food carts), as well as local buses in small towns, you could get by using a credit card / Suica perfectly fine.

This isn't as true as it used to be. Mobile pay and IC-type cards have risen in popularity, and if you have a credit card, it's accepted in many places.