Japan Turns to Fax Machines After Microsoft 365 Outage

A Microsoft 365 outage in Japan on November 13 knocked out Outlook and other services, prompting government offices like Mie Prefecture to fall back on fax machines for communication. The disruption affected all 7,500 staff at Mie Prefecture's government, according to The Japan Times, highlighting the continued reliance on fax technology as a decentralized backup when cloud services fail. Commenters noted faxes lack authentication and encryption, while others criticized over-dependence on single providers and debated the practicality of self-hosted mail servers as alternatives.