Why Japan can’t quit the fax machine

It only takes a matter of days for one’s illusions of Japan as a technological utopia to be shattered — probably on their first day at a Japanese company, when they’ll have to submit a document to HR using a fax machine. The country’s anachronistic reliance on the fax, according to the Washington Post, dates back to the slow adoption of the personal computer due to high broadband costs and difficulties in typing the language.

Many Japanese people eschewed PCs in favor of browsing the web on their phones, which were advanced compared to the rest of the world. While these barriers don’t exist today, 59 percent of Japanese households still keep fax machines around, and the Post questions whether the outmoded technology is emblematic of Japan’s resistance to change.