Restaurants, souvenir shops and even temples and shrines are hoping to cater to foreign guests with an international custom yet to be fully adopted in Japan: letting customers pay their bills with credit cards at portable terminals instead of paying at cash registers.

As the country braces for further tourism in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, major credit card companies are providing businesses with portable devices so foreign customers can pay at the table — a practice customary in many of their home countries.

In mid-September, a customer from Sweden seated at the bar at The Rigoletto, a restaurant serving Southern European cuisine in Tokyo's busy Shibuya district, swiped his card at his table. He said the convenience reminded him of being back home.