The floppy disk refused to die in Japan - laws that forced the continued use of floppies have finally hit the chopping block

Floppy disks can finally make their way across the digital equivalent of the River Styx and reach the land of eternal slumber. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has abolished any requirement for applicants to use this ancient clicking and buzzing magnetic media when filing official documents. Until last week there were about 1,900 official governmental application procedures that stipulated businesses must submit floppies or CD-ROMs (specifically) containing supplementary data.

The Japanese government indicated the floppy disk’s days were numbered back in August 2022. At the time a government minister openly mused “Where can you buy floppy disks these days?” He went on to tell reporters that the rules stipulating specific media to accompany official form submissions would be changed quickly.

Removing the necessity to be able to work with legacy removable storage formats like floppy disks (and CD-ROMs) from Japan’s bureaucracy will surely come as a relief to all concerned. IBM shipped the first floppy diskettes in 1973 - over 50 years ago. We don’t know when floppy disk mechanisms ceased production but Sony, the last floppy media maker, stopped making diskettes over a decade ago.

The Japanese government might take some time to update the hundreds of official procedures that require specific media like floppies and CDs to be submitted, or it could push ahead with immediate changes – it isn’t clear from the source. However, in 2022 we noted that there is still a viable floppy disk business operating in the USA. This singular remaining business supports clientele ranging from the avionics and healthcare to embroidery segments – as well as hobbyists and retro computing folk.

Tom Persky, owner of US-based floppydisk.com, admitted that the end of his floppy business was in sight. In 2022 he said there were about four more years left before he thought the floppy disk business would dry up. Persky was still receiving about 1,000 disks a day in the mail for recycling. At the time of writing, as well as batches of new-old-stock 3.5-inch disks, Persky sells 50-packs of tested recycled disks at $19.95. If the 1.44MB DS/HD floppies are too modern for your gear, 720KB DS/DD media is also available (for a premium).