Woofun AI reports that Japan’s retail sector is accelerating stablecoin adoption through two distinct corporate initiatives: a convenience store pilot by Lawson and a merchant service launch by Netstars.

The Lawson trial, scheduled for August at the Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo, represents a technical stress test for integrating digital assets into standard retail infrastructure. HashPort and telecom group KDDI have partnered with the convenience chain to execute this pilot. The system utilizes HashPort’s non-custodial wallet for consumers, while the store processes transactions via a dedicated point-of-sale system. This architecture allows merchants to accept payments without managing crypto wallets directly. The primary objective is to evaluate operational complexity, specifically assessing integration requirements, checkout operations, payment processing times, and wallet usability before any broader deployment.

In parallel, Netstars commercialized its Stablecoin Pay service on Monday, targeting merchants seeking diversified payment options. The platform currently supports USDC, USDT, and the yen-denominated JPYC across the Solana and Polygon networks, with MetaMask as the designated wallet interface.

Woofun AI data shows the merchant fee is set at 0.98%, a rate designed to incentivize adoption while covering network costs. A critical feature of this service is its ability to allow merchants to use existing payment terminals and settle in yen, even when customers pay with dollar-denominated stablecoins. This mechanism eliminates the need for merchants to hold crypto assets or manage volatile exchange rates independently.

This commercial rollout builds upon Netstars’ previous limited trials, which included USDC payments at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from January to February and at a trading-card store in Himeji in April. The transition from isolated pilots to a scalable merchant-facing product reflects a broader industry shift toward consumer-ready solutions within Japan’s regulated stablecoin market. By abstracting the technical complexities of blockchain transactions, these services aim to normalize digital asset usage in everyday commerce.

The expansion of these services aligns with Japan’s evolving regulatory landscape, which established a dedicated framework for stablecoins on June 1, 2023, through amendments to the Payment Services Act. These rules mandate that intermediaries register with the Financial Services Agency and define specific categories for fiat-linked stablecoins. Regulatory momentum has since accelerated, with USDC receiving distribution approval in March 2025 and JPYC registering as a fund transfer service provider in August, preceding its official launch in October. This structured regulatory environment provides the necessary legal certainty for retail integrations to proceed.