@coin @ryo There's also the distinction between the MyNumber system (assigned number to all residents of Japan) and the MyNumber Card (an RFID-chip embedded card with a person's data on it, for use with NFC systems).
While everybody received a number, the cards were issued by application. JGov imagined that everybody would rush out to get the super cool MyNumber Card, except they didn't... nowhere near as many as they wanted/needed.
From there they started trying to shoehorn the fucking thing into whatever they could to boost the number of takers. They created a shitty mascot character, a Point System to get shopping discounts if you swipe it at the register, etc etc.
When the Digital Agency released its national Vaccine Passport app, registration for the (more convenient) electronic paperless version required verification via NFC using the MyNumber Card, meaning anybody without one was railroaded into the less convenient paper version.
This current move represents the most forceful attempt to shoehorn the damn thing in yet... with a population that's majority elderly, most of whom need some kind of treatment or medication, it's practically a gun to the head of most of the country. National Health Insurance covers 70% of almost all medical costs, but you have to present your Health Insurance Card at least once a month for verification. If they phase it out and merge it with MyNumber Card, it'll mean "get a MyNumber Card or you're paying out the ass for all your medical bills, peasant."