I’m calling horseshit. Every job I worked in the past that required handling a register was a Japanese cash register where we could just not charge tax, and which had multiple options depending on what kind of tax it was (drive-thrus for example have a different rate, I never had to deal with that personally but I came across it in the manual when we were setting up a new one). It was an extra key to charge tax.

This shit isn’t lost technology, and while I understand why The Japan Times might be reluctant to name names, given that they’re not naming which manufacturer or manufacturers it is that is crying about how this is “too hard”, I just don’t believe them.