It's getting harder and harder to be a man of culture, what with all the big Japanese art and media websites restricting purchases made with credit cards outside Japan. The latest to join DLsite, Niconico and Getchu is Fantia.

Fantia has been around since 2016, and is a fan-to-creator direct content sharing site not unlike OnlyFans. It's used by illustrators, cosplayers, Vtubers and streamers to share both SFW and NSFW content. On May 21, they issued an announcement that said:

"Thank you for using Fantia.

From 15:30 on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, the use of Visa and Mastercard credit cards has been temporarily suspended.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for customers using Visa or MasterCard credit cards. Please use JCB, American Express, Diners [Club] or other payment services."

At least there are a few options still available, but this still cuts out a big portion of the site's western userbase. The post goes on to say the site will still accept direct bank transfers, konbini prepaid cards and Toracoin, which ironically also recently dropped support for Visa and Mastercard but does take PayPal. Subscriptions are still valid after the cutoff so long as payment services are replaed, and there was an update on the 24th that said: 

"In addition, we are considering other measures, such as the expansion of payment services, and will report again as soon as it is decided."

Users have to jump through increasingly obscure hoops to access content that was easily attainable until recently, and the number of websites restricting credit cards seems to be growing steadily. At least Fantia claim they're looking into a solution, which is more than some of the rest have said on the matter, but it's sad that this seems to be becoming a new norm.

Have you guys used Fantia before? Are you concerned by the growing number of restrictions for western users on Japanese sites? Leave your thoughts in the comments!