Dear Martin,
In Kyoto, Japan, floppy disks are still used in weaving looms for Nishijin-ori, which is traditional silk fabrics.
https://kyoto.travel/en/see-and-do/nishijin-ori.htmlThe Nishijin weaving factories introduced jacquard looms in the late 19th century (probably in the 1870s), and since then the weaving patterns were input by punchcards, which were gradually replaced by floppy disks around the end of the 20th century. Even now, some factories still use looms with such floppy disks. Since it has become difficult to obtain floppies, some Nishijin-ori companies sometimes ask for donations of floppy disks through SNS. I heard there are a few factories that still use old punchcard, although these cards for jacquard looms are heavy and difficult to handle.
Mai Sugimoto
Associate Professor
Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University
3-3-35, Yamate-cho, Suita-shi