Use of E-cash in Japan

[Suki]

I read an article two days ago about how popular this electronic payment method was getting in Japan.

For those of you who don't know what E-cash is: Ecash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article said that the reason for the increase use of it was that the Japanese didn't like to spend too much time on shopping so by using E-cash they could make a quick purchase, it also stressed that if there is one thing they hate more than anything it is being in debt and that is why credit cards were hardly used at all among the Japanese population. Moreover, I was shocked to read that E-cash would never be as succesful in Western countries because over here no ones likes to go carrying all the money they own around with them and this was something which did not bother the Japanese cause they, unlike Westerners (sorry to abuse that term, I don't like it much either), were confident about their 'electronic wallet' being returned in case they lost it.

So is the use of E-cash in Japan so extensive? Do you think this system would not work elsewhere?

[Nyororin]

Cash is still preferred, but Japanese people not using credit cards is SERIOUSLY out of date. People will even use their cards at the convenience stores...

The most common type of "e-wallet" you will see here is the type built into cell phones. It`s usually prepaid, but I think you can set some of them up like debit cards.
That`s really all it is in the end, a debit card. Japan never jumped on to the debit card thing, and never used checks. For some reason people seem to think that e-money is something bigger and more mysterious - but it`s just taking, say, the same niche that checking cards and debit cards take in the US.