Comment by lmm

I don't think cheques are obsolete in Japan, so much as never having been popular and established in the first place. A lot of things are just done in cash (even e.g. buying houses!) and that's not seen as unacceptably risky the way it is in many countries; COD is an established practice that again just doesn't exist (and wouldn't remotely be considered safe) elsewhere. Furikomi is slow and expensive and cheques would actually be an upgrade in many ways.