In the city of Hamada, Japan, one of eight local banks the city administration does business with insists that payment instructions be handed over physically, on floppy disks.
— With its azure ocean views and terraced rice paddies, the city of Hamada, population 50,000, is far from Japan's major urban centers of Tokyo and Osaka. But Hamada is no digital slouch. Just like cities in other advanced nations, Hamada collects taxes, health insurance premiums and social security contributions from residents' bank accounts by sending invoice orders online to local financial institutions.
"Floppy disk production ended 10 years ago, and we've urged that bank to go online," a spokeswoman for the city's accounting department told CBS News."But they cling to their old system." A sales clerk at Seiwa Electric, an appliance shop in western Tokyo packed to the gills with the latest-model refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, showed CBS News one of their hottest-selling products: A Panasonic fax machine that retails for $189.
The reluctance to part with old hardware illustrates the obstacles for Japan's Digital Agency, which was established exactly one year ago this month. Led by prime ministerial aspirant and outspoken Digital Minister Taro Kono, the agency is fighting to consign the floppy disk, along with other hardware like CD-ROMs, DVDs and USB drives, to the dustbin.
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