I don't own a Japanese credit card, though I've been turned down for one, twice.  And that's the main downside - they're very hard for non-Japanese people to obtain.

As I understand it, there are credit cards both with and without upkeep fees.  Unlike in other countries, it seems that credit cards are tied to people's bank accounts, and instead of sending you a bill to pay every month, they just withdraw that amount from your bank account.

And that's pretty much all I know.

I have a Rakuten Visa card. Rakuten hands them out like candy, as long as you have the required information and are decent enough on the app.

There aren't any monthly fees to keep it active, but there may be a yearly fee.

Pros and Cons are about the same as anything. The bonuses might be a little week on the Rakuten card, is maybe the only downside.

Traditionally, the Japanese credit card business operates on the charge card model. In fact, most of the "クレジットカード"s from reputable creditors are charge cards like Amex in the US or charge cards that can also be used as credit cards if you would like.

Typical クレジットカード aren't subprime loans with stupidly high interest. The very idea of borrowing money for double digit interest for no financial reason is simply absurd and ludicrous to the eye of most of the Japanese people with common sense. Credit cards won't fly in Japan.

That said, younger and smaller companies stared distributing credit cards that aren't charge cards in Japan some time ago. Traditional クレジットカード companies also started adding the credit card function to their charge cards. The function of credit cards is called リボルビング in Japan; you borrow money, pay a fixed minimum balance or more every month, and also pay ridiculously high interest according to their APR. Credit cards (that aren't charge cards) are typically quite easy to get, and those companies operate like how American subprime creditors try to thrust their plastic cards upon you. Credit cards make absolutely zero financia sense in Japan, though.

So, if you look for クレジットカード that only accept リボルビング払い, you should be able to get one as long as you look incredibly awful on your application. But if you want a typical クレジットカード, which is basically a charge card that works the same way as typical Amex cards do in the US, the standards are much higher. You pay an anual fee and usually no interest.