More Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan are going cashless, accepting one or more of Japan’s various forms of e-payments in lieu of traditional cash donations. Some shrines and temples say they’re joining the cashless party this New Year’s season – with at least one saying they’re making the shift mainly to stop people from stealing their donations.
With the New Year approaching, many in Japan will do Hatsumōde, the traditional first visit of the year to a Shinto shrine. It’s courtesy while visiting to toss a small amount of money into the donation box, or saisenbako (賽銭箱).
In recent years, however, more shrines and temples are accepting digital payments. Most support some form of QR code or barcode payment popularized by the service PayPay. In a recent press release, PayPay announced that seven shrines and temples had signed up before the Hatsumōde season. In August, the company announced a new type of business account specifically for non-profits to accept donations.
PayPay is the leading digital payment service in Japan, with some 10 million stores accepting it as payment. It’s grown quickly as it doesn’t require specialized equipment to implement, and the company keeps surcharges low. That enables even small shops that normally wouldn’t implement credit card support to accept it.
Digital donation still isn’t wildly popular. Only 80 shrines and temples support it countrywide, according to NTV News. Those that do say they’re trying to solicit more donations from young people. Accepting digital donations also eliminates the work – and fees – involved in taking cash to the bank.
There’s another good reason to go cashless: to stop donation theft.
Inage Jinja in Kawasaki is one such shrine. The location, which is one of the seven that’s signed up for PayPay this year, showed reporters for NTV News a picture of their damaged donation box. Someone had tried to break the lock at some point to scoop out all the change.
Shrine and temple worshipers seem split on e-payments. Some like that they can use their digital payment apps and not have to worry about carrying around coins. Others aren’t as smitten.
“Putting money in the box drives the feeling home better than flipping out your cell phone,” one visitor said.
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