How to Get a Taxi in Japan: "Booking Two Rides at Once and Cancelling One Is Something You Absolutely Must Never Do" — Japanese Drivers on Why the Car Doesn't Come
日本でタクシーをつかまえる——「同時配車してもう一方をキャンセルとか絶対やったらダメ」317いいね、運転手が語る「来ない」理由
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
In a big Japanese city the app is now the front door: drivers say app dispatch is the main way to earn (30 likes), and in central Tokyo at night there are more taxis than ordinary cars (59 likes). So the request Japanese drivers repeat under a 2026 video about taxi firms going under is not about money. It is: order one ride, not two. Fire off requests on two apps and cancel one, they say, and a driver has already raced over for nothing, sometimes across oncoming traffic (317 likes), and one app's own policy can restrict your account for it (60 likes). Drivers also explain the opposite problem outside the big cities, where the answer is often that no taxi exists at all.
“Booking two rides at once and then cancelling one of them is something you absolutely must never do. The driver races to your pickup point and doesn't get a single yen of cancellation fee. The job comes in with no regard for whether it's the opposite direction or the opposite side of the road, so we're forced into pretty dangerous driving very often.”
同時配車してもう一方をキャンセルとか絶対やったらダメだよ、運転手は乗車地に必死で向かってキャンセル料なんて一銭も入らないんだから。反対方向反対車線おかまいなしに配車来てかなり危険な運転を強いられる事が非常に多いんだから。
What Japanese people do instead
I get it, and it's fine if you cancel straight away. Before you send the request, look at how many cars are around you and try them one at a time.
わかる、すぐなら良いけどね。 配車かける前に周りの台数見て一つづつ試してくだせえ〜
— @Thepeaceofapiece10 likesI'd like people to stop double-booking, though when you're in a hurry maybe it can't be helped. Just do the cancellation properly. Leaving it hanging is the one thing you must never do.
同時配車はやめて欲しいけど急いでる時は仕方ないかもしれない。 ただキャンセル処理はちゃんとしてください。放置だけは絶対にダメ。
— @SKN2060211 likesI'm a working driver, and when it rains and things get busy I switch the app off and concentrate on raised hands. I want to give priority to the person who's stuck right there and then. Those passengers always say "thanks, you saved me." That's when the job feels worth doing.
現役ドライバーですが、雨降って忙しくなるとアプリを止めて手上げに専念します。 その時その場で困っている人優先したいから。そういうお客さんは必ず「ありがと～、助かったわ～」と言ってくれます。 やりがいを感じる場面です。
— @magareimagarei79412 likes
FAQ
- Is there Uber in Japan?
- Yes, but it is not what most visitors expect. Uber Japan runs the app; the ride itself is provided by partner taxi operators, so what arrives is a licensed taxi on the meter. Since March 2024 there is also a Japanese rideshare scheme in which ordinary drivers use their own cars, but only under the management of a taxi company, and only in the areas, days and time bands where dispatch-app data shows taxis are short. GO, S.RIDE, DiDi and Uber are the apps drivers name in the comments.
Sources: uber.com · mlit.go.jp — checked 2026-09-07
- Why does no taxi accept my app request?
- Because drivers choose which jobs to take. A driver with over 35 years in Tokyo says he hardly takes app jobs at all and limits the areas he accepts them in, because the pickup is often in the opposite direction or somewhere he has just passed (11 likes). Another says drivers cancel a GO job when a better DiDi job appears (17 likes). If nothing comes, walk to a taxi rank or a main road: in central Tokyo at night there are more taxis than ordinary cars (59 likes).
- How much does a taxi cost in Tokyo, and is it more expensive at night?
- Central Tokyo fares changed on 20 April 2026: 500 yen for the first kilometre, then 100 yen per 232 metres, plus 100 yen for every 85 seconds spent below 10 km/h in traffic. A booking made through an app usually adds a dispatch fee, 500 yen at one large Tokyo operator. Between 22:00 and 05:00 a 20 percent late-night surcharge applies, which is what a commenter is pointing at when a ride cost 7,000 yen out and 10,000 yen back (11 likes).
Sources: km-taxi.tokyo · taxi-tokyo.or.jp — checked 2026-09-07
- Can you get a taxi in the Japanese countryside?
- Often not, and Japanese commenters say so bluntly. One writes that the taxi company in his hometown closed down and there are no buses either (105 likes); another waited 40 minutes at a regional factory because there was no other way back (19 likes); a third was told every taxi was out, started walking from a station where limited expresses stop, and covered 3 km without a single car passing (3 likes). Book ahead through your accommodation, and treat a rural taxi as something to arrange the day before, not to hail.
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What Japanese people said — picked from the top 200 of 796 comments
Sugawara-san, please stop double-booking rides! It's not a joking matter! When someone with a big influence says it, more people copy it!
菅原さん、同時配車はおやめ下さい！笑い事ではありません！影響力が大きい方の発言は真似する人が増えます！
Double-booking rides is a no-go!
同時配車はアカン！
Drivers aren't stupid either, so if a job comes in on GO and then a better one comes in on DiDi, we cancel the GO one. GO only has short trips, so at busy times we switch it off.
ドライバーもバカじゃないからGOで配車来てもDｉDｉで良い配車来たらGOをキャンセルしますから GOは短距離しか無いから忙しい時間は切りますよ
It's convenient for the user, but for the driver who gets cancelled on it's unbearable... GO's cancellation policy mentions "restrictions on use of the service," so I wonder whether that's really all right 😅
利用者は便利だろうけど、配車キャンセルされたドライバーにとってはたまったもんじゃない。。。 GOのキャンセルポリシーに「サービスの利用制限」について記載されているが大丈夫なのだろうか😅
I did the taxi driver job for a short while. The hours on duty were so long that I had a feeling I'd wreck my health, so I quit. Accidents and sudden death are scary.
タクシードライバー少しの間やってました。拘束時間長すぎて身体壊しそうな予感で辞めました。事故や突然死が怖いですわ。
A few years ago the taxi company in my hometown shut itself down. When I go back now my parents drive me around, but that's going to get pretty difficult from here on. There are no buses either, so it's a problem.
数年前に地元のタクシー会社は自主廃業になりました。 今は帰省した際に、親が車で送迎して貰ってますが、この先は中々難しくなります。 バスも無いので困ったものです。
The reason elderly people in the countryside don't hand in their licenses is that you can't catch a taxi. You can't catch one so you don't use one, you don't use one so the number of taxis doesn't grow. It's a vicious circle.
田舎の高齢者の免許返納が進まないのはタクシーが捕まらないから。捕まらないから利用しない、利用しないからタクシーが増えないの悪循環。
2:23 When I go on a weekend business trip to a factory out in the regions, there really are no taxis. It's exactly as Sugawara-san says. I had no way of getting back, so I asked for one even with a 40-minute wait.
2:23 地方の工場に土日出張すると本当にタクシーがないです。菅原さんのお話の通りです。帰る方法がないので40分待ちでもお願いしました。
I arrived at a station where the limited express stops, was told all the taxis were out, and started walking toward my destination thinking I'd catch one on the way. Not a taxi, not a single car passed. In the end I walked 3 km to the client. On the way back the client drove me. Taxis don't run in the countryside.
特急の止る駅に到着 タクシーが出払ってるとのことで目的地に歩き始めました そのうち捕まるだろうと タクシーどころか車一台通らず 結局3㎞歩いてお客さんの処へ到着 帰りはお客さんに送っていただきました 田舎にタクシーは走ってませんね
I drive a taxi mainly around Saitama City. In the area I cover there are quite a lot of taxis going spare. The companies' profits are up because there are more drivers, but a lot of drivers are seeing their sales fall.
さいたま市を中心にタクシー運転手してます。 私が担当している区域はかなりタクシー余っています。 乗務員が増えて会社は利益増えてますが、乗務員は売上下がってる人が多いです。
In central Tokyo it's JPN Taxis to the left and right. At night there are overwhelmingly more taxis than ordinary cars.
都内は右も左もジャパンタクシーだらけ 夜になると普通の車よりタクシーが圧倒時に多い
I've been a taxi driver in Tokyo for over 35 years. I'm with the S.RIDE group. I hardly ever take app jobs, and I can still keep my sales near the top, though I think it comes down to luck on the day. The thing is, the app pickup is often in the opposite direction from where I'm heading, or a place I've just driven past, or an apartment building where I had a bad experience, so I limit the areas where I accept jobs. For some reason I get 20 to 30 dispatch calls every shift, but on a day when I take a nearby one as my first job, I think twice after that. In Setagaya, Meguro, Ota, Suginami, Adachi, Katsushika, Edogawa, Chiyoda, Nerima and Kita there are few taxis, so I do take the jobs.
都内で35年以上タクシー乗務員してます。S.RIDEのグループです。 アプリ配車はほとんど取りません、それでも売上上位キープは出来ますが、その日の運次第だと思います。 とにかくアプリの配車先が進行方向の逆であったり、通り過ぎった所だったり、嫌な思いしたマンションの配車だったりが多いので 配車受けるエリアは限定しています。何故か毎出番20〜30くらい配車呼び出しあります、でも初回で近所の配車受けた日はその後は考えます。 世田谷、目黒、大田、杉並、足立、葛飾、江戸川、千代田、練馬、北タクシーが少ないので配車受けますね。
I'm a former Nihon Kotsu driver. I drove a JPN Taxi in Tokyo. I'm in a regional city now, and the taxis here are old. Comfort sedans are still going strong on the road, and there are almost no JPN Taxis. Young women drivers are increasing, though. Perhaps because few cars are running, their income seems good. They say app dispatch is the main way to earn. In exchange, the number of small companies going bankrupt has gone up.
元日本交通のドライバーです。 都内でジャパンタクシーに乗っていました。 今は地方都市にいますがまあタクシーが古い。セダンのコンフォートがバリバリの現役で走っています。ジャパンタクシーはほぼ皆無です。 ただ若い女性ドライバーは増えていますね。走っている台数が少ない為か収入は良いみたいです。アプリ配車がメインで稼げるそうです。その代わり小さい会社の倒産件数は増えました。
With a JPN Taxi you load a wheelchair from the side, so it takes time and trouble, but with a Sienta you can load it from the back, which is why it gets chosen.
ジャパンタクシーは車椅子を乗せるのは横だから時間と手間がかかるが シエンタは後ろから乗せられるから選ばれてるんだよね。
I'm a working driver. It's tough across the board. You should absolutely specify the route. At our company we're told to always confirm the route.
現役ドライバーです。 全体的に厳しいですね。 ルートは絶対に指定した方が良いです。弊社では必ずルート確認をする様に言われています。
7,000 yen on the way there and 10,000 yen on the way back. The late-night fare runs from 22:00 until 05:00, so wasn't the return trip after 22:00?
行きが 7,000円 帰りが10,000円 22時〜翌日５時まで 深夜料金ですが 帰りが 22時廻ってませんでしたか？