You will often see TikTok videos that imply Japan is living in the future, or is really technologically advanced. Now, while it is far from backwards and is an advanced country, the actual truth on the ground is very different.
This is to such a degree that, in many ways, Japan is a backwards country. Now, I am sure the white woke brigade will go off on me that some of these are cultural. Perhaps, but they are also backwards. And to confirm we love Japan – this is merely an opinion.
Click to see the best food cities in Japan.
7 Ways Japan Is Not Living in the Future
So, as always, we will count from 7 to 1 on this, saving the best/worst until last. And I have gone all out by describing why each of these epitomises why Japan is not living in the future and, indeed, why each grinds my gears.
7) Fax Machines in Japan????
OK, so this one is maybe a cheap shot, and you could argue it is cultural, but seriously, fax machines in 2026? Fax machines are still owned, sold and used because of the obsession with signatures. There are digital ways to do this, though, as well as the argument that, well, you should just adapt instead of Japan living in the past.
Photographer: MASA
6) Hotels Are Awful
The way hotels are set up, priced and, mostly, how they act shows how much Japan is not living in the future. Check-in is at 3 pm, and if you want to check in earlier, they will charge exorbitant fees. It goes so far that even at 2.58 pm, they won’t just check you in; you have to wait two minutes.
Forget the bullshit cultural argument here! The rest of the world has evolved and moved to a customer-first point of view. This sucks even more when you factor in that they are bloody expensive as well.
5) Weird Smoking Laws in Japan
OK, so I don’t mind this one to a degree, but it is also very weirdly Japanese. Previously, I had heard that Japan was the strictest when it came to smoking. The truth, though, is a bit more nuanced.
You see, the overall takeaway here is pretty much that you can smoke a lot inside, but less so outside. Weird, and hardly the behaviour of the future, one assumes.
4) Anti-Business Rigidity
I had a tour to Fukushima once, and the entire bus was full of my customers. I wanted to change where we stopped. I was told this was not possible because, in 1986, there was a bus that deviated from its route and crashed.
A similar argument is made about rubbish bins. Therefore, Japan is really hard to do business in. It is rigid, it is anti-business, you cannot pay to make things happen and, once again, Japan is not living in the future.
3) The Japanese Train System Is Not That Good
Japan’s train system gets lauded the world over, but this is all a bit of a lie. Basically, while the super-fast trains are popular and, indeed, on time, the network as a whole is shit.
This is because there are multiple different companies, systems and non-integrated organisations that just make it hard. For example, for long-distance travel, you can buy the seat reservation online, but not the ticket itself, which must be obtained from the station.
Honestly, it is ridiculous to take the train in Japan.
2) Obsession with Technology
This is one of the things that is most misunderstood, with a huge number of people thinking Japan is futuristic. Take hotels: most have a computer you need to check in with, something I now just refuse to do.
This involves pointless admin, but also comes with a member of staff to help you. I remember staying at the airport hotel, and there were six machines and five people to help with them. Here’s an idea: just have those staff do it!
It is not quicker at all, so, yeah, if your robots don’t make shit quicker, don’t bother.
1) Cash Is Still King
Cash is still king, right? Now, again, I have had people have a go at me and say it is a cultural thing, but that is utter bullshit, as it is arbitrary and often big businesses that do this, not small vendors.
This has affected me greatly at train stations and at the airport when paying for excess baggage. There is simply no argument for this being the case in 2026, other than just saying it how it is: Japan is not living in the future; it is backwards.
What’s worse still is that, because they change the money so often, the whole vending machine industry – which, like the fax machine, they are desperately holding on to – gets screwed over.
So, these are but a few of my reasons for declaring that Japan is not just failing to live in some futuristic world, but is quite backwards. Indeed, as my comrade stated to me, Japan looks more like a “futuristic vision of what Japan thought the future would look like in the 90s”.
That’s right: it is future cosplay, papering over the fact that Japan is stuck in the 90s, right next to Hong Kong.
Click to see my tours to Japan with YPT.