Japan has officially "won the floppy disk war" by finally eliminating many of the regulations that restricted the use of floppy disks. However, this war has been going on for more than two years.

For me, now approaching 30, floppy disks feature memories of a bygone era, when I could insert the disk into my machine with a satisfying clatter, perhaps to boot "Doom" or other classic DOS games. But the memory is hazy, and many people may have no recollection of floppy disks at all. [For until a few days ago, the Japanese government used floppy disks in all its systems. Thanks to the efforts of Digital Minister Taro Kono, Japan has declared victory over this old storage device, according to Reuters (via Sweclockers).

The floppy disk is that beautiful, square, comfortably sturdy disk made of plastic and metal. (For younger readers, there is a graphic of it above. Floppy disks were (no, still are) kinda cool. A bit like cassette tapes, the magnetizable material that stores data runs in concentric circles over the disk, which spins inside a plastic case. However, the storage capacity of floppy disks is surprisingly limited. So as software became more complex and larger in the 1990s, companies had to spread their software across multiple disks.

Long story short, floppy disks were around for a while for things like firmware updates, but people moved on and started using newer, higher-capacity storage devices like CDs. by the mid-to-late decade, floppy disks in the West had become a serious They were rarely used as storage.

In Japan, however, the situation was different. Government regulations and systems did not adapt to evolving technology. The BBC, for example, reported that in the Japanese workplace, "faxes continued to be preferred over e-mail. In recent years, however, Taro Kono, Minister of State for Digital Affairs, has been pushing for Japan to move to newer and better technology

, and the Japanese government has been working with the Japanese government to help the country move to a newer and better technology.

Kono's efforts to transition from these outdated technologies included a "declaration of war" against floppy disks in 2021. Now he has finally declared victory for Japan, telling Reuters, "We won the war against floppy disks on June 28!" He told the Reuters news agency, "We won the war against the floppy disk. The specifics of the victory": the abolition of all but one of the 1,034 regulations governing the use of floppy disks.

While it is indeed a victory for Japan (not to mention a particularly fitting Independence story to be reported on July 4), part of me can't help but feel sad that Japan is saying goodbye to that glorious chonky disk. No, I am not being emotional; you are!