Japan has one of the most legacy tech as they probably automated them first and an ageing population probably is resistant to change. They still use fax and telegrams quite a lot
Japanese are not lazy, they are one of the most capable people on the planet, but that also means they don't innovate or see the value of new inventions.
A great example is that in the west, we have specific kitchen tools for everything. An apple peeler, for example. Specifically to peel and only peel apples and only apples. Why? Because everyone's a lazy bastard.
But in Japan? One kitchen knife for everything. Yes, one single kitchen knife. For everything. Why? Because everyone is skilled with the kitchen knife to do anything and everything with it, so they don't need to innovate and invent apple peelers.
Or another great example: Japan started using telephones and then mobile phones and that was good enough for them. The west wanted even more convenience and invented smartphones.
As you put it, doing it the old fashioned way is "good enough" for Japan because they aren't lazy. They are both among the most advanced and regressive people on the planet.
Also this article mentions that the chef of the restaurant in the Japan House in London: “Akira has used many different types of knives in the past, but these days he finds that one sturdy knife and one small petit knife are enough to prepare almost any Japanese dish.”
So I’m not sure where you information is coming from but sounds more like myth than fact.
Article: https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/discover/japanese-knives-par...
You're probably right, but the actual software in only a small part of the process here. People have to go and manually cut the punch cards once produced for example, so it turns into an extremely slow and inefficient process overall.
That said, would they benefit from a years-long, 10 times over budget and bug riddled software renewal? Probably not.
Give it another decade or two and fax machines will be gone.
Telegrams? Is this some kind of joke? I've never seen anything resembling a telegram here.
Faxes are still used between businesses, which is much the same as the US where they're ubiquitous in the real estate and legal industries.
They're used for special occasions, you can even get them printed on pretty paper and put in pretty envelopes.
https://www.ntt-east.co.jp/dmail/
Wedding and funeral ceremonies often include a segment where someone reads aloud messages that have been delivered by telegram.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan-...