Japan’s digital minister has “declared war” on floppy disks and other retro tech used by the country’s bureaucrats. Around 1,900 government procedures still require businesses to use the storage devices, plus CDs and mini-discs, Taro Kono said.

 

He said regulations would be updated to allow people to use online services.

Despite its reputation for innovative high-tech gadgetry, Japan is notorious for clinging to outmoded technology through its office culture.

 

Floppy disks – so-called because the original products were bendable – were created in the late 1960s but were falling out of fashion three decades later thanks to more efficient storage solutions.