Japanese officials have confirmed more details of a biometric payment pilot that would see tourists use just their fingerprint for purchases while visiting the country.Sources close to the project told Japan Today that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will launch trials in October in tourism hot spots in the Kanto area around Tokyo, the Kansai region centering on Osaka and the island of Kyushu in the country's southwest.Customer data and purchasing patterns will be collected from each area during the trials by nationality, age group and other demographic features, adds the newspaper.The biometric tech involved has been developed by Dai Nippon Printing Co and Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting LLC, and the new system will be called the Omotenashi Platform, after the Japanese term for hospitality.Trials of the platform in the Kanto area will include payments using fingerprints at hot spring resorts and restaurants in Kanagawa Prefecture's tourist sites, including the hot spring town of Hakone and historical coastal town of Kamakura, the sources said.In the Kansai area, technology using vein scanning will be tested with the cooperation of airport, railway and amusement facility operators in the hope of offering tourists a consistent payment system throughout their visit.

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