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Uber's Failure in Japan

disruptingjapan.com

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Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#121

Post by yummyfajitas »

zyx321 wrote: post #119
yummyfajitas wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other is also a harmless private activity. No one is harmed when I ride an Uber to my destination. You might claim the taxi driver is harmed by me not using him, but then I might also claim that a woman who might marry the bi fellow is harmed by him being unavailable. Also, if you want to talk about things like safety regulations for taxis/Ubers, keep in mind that gay (specifically MSM, lesbians are safe of cours…

You make a convincing argument. We need to strictly regulate gay sex on public roads, and in all other places where it might endanger innocent bystanders. While we're at it, let's tax gay prostitutes who use our tax-funded public bathrooms for commercial purposes.

I'm confused what public roads have to do with anything. Does this mean you oppose regulation of private acts happening off the public roads? For example, if I want to employ people in a racist manner and pay them $3/hour in the privacy of my own bedroom, that's ok?

Or perhaps if the democratic will of the people decides that blacks must use a separate but equal set of public roads, that's also OK?

My only point is that appeals to the "democratic will of the people" are a dishonest justification for a policy. People are perfectly happy to ignore it when it leads to policies they dislike.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#122

Post by yashap »

Good article, but I think the author understates a bit how hard it is for ANY foreign tech company to do well in Japan. You can almost always take your American business, apply it as-is (with some decent translation/localization) to major European markets, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, even South America, and so pretty well in most cases. Try the same in Japan, though, and you'll generally fail.

It's a wildly different culture in so many different ways, and there are tonnes of local competitors who are likely in your niche, but specifically targeting Japan, with an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture. The few foreign tech companies that have done well in Japan basically have a separate business and product just for Japan, like Yahoo Japan.

If you're thinking about investing significantly into entering Japan as an American tech company, you probably shouldn't, unless you're willing to invest HUGE resources into it (and even then, it's a massive gamble).

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#123

Post by m_mueller »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #101
mahranch wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my best friends is from a country without tipping. He's well-traveled and has something like 20+ stamps in his passport. He says he loves tipping. I was a little curious so I asked him why, he said in countries without tipping, service is shit. Moreover, the demeanor of everyone involved is shit. He said "you Americans don't know how good you have it". I guess even someone fake being nice to you in expectation…

Nonsense. In my experience (granted not 20 countries but more than a dozen) the service is at least as variable and often worse in countries where tipping is common. Also, it encourages behaviour that exists only to extract a larger tip. Just price the goods correctly so that I know when I start the transaction what I am going to pay, then I'm more likely to return to your establishment to enjoy the food and service.

That has also been my observation. However, where the US stands out alone for me in the developed world, is that tipping hasn't just become common in a few isolated situations - like getting something served at the table or getting ones' room cleaned. I can somewhat understand those because you as a customer can judge best how labour intensive / stressful your particular case has been for a low paid worker. But in the US it's everywhere. Why the hell do I have to tip a hairdresser? A taxi driver? A gas station serviceman? They have prices based on workload and materials anyway, so please, why do I have to figure out your correct salary for this interaction based on some arcane percentage system myself? This, at the end, is just what I call unprofessional. If you want to see how professional the service industry can get - as others have pointed out - just visit Japan.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#124

Post by myrandomcomment »

hkmurakami wrote: post #27
pnathan wrote: post #24

The advantage of Uber has nothing to do with price and everything to do with grotesque incompetence on the part of the taxi operators. Five-six years ago, when I asked for a receipt for an expense report, I got a hand-scribbled note. Running credit cards often required hand-based crank mechanisms. Autoplaying TV on the back of a seat that was billed unless you explicitly opted out. It was, in short, a scammy operatio…

>if the taxi industry in Japan is honest, competent and well executed I've used Taxis in Japan across the country for 20+ years, can attest to its quality, reliability, and professionalism. It's on the expensive side, with rides usually starting at 700 yen (roughly 7USD) [1], but the drivers are courteous professionals who drive smoothly and know their cities and routes cold (if they don't, they'll apologize for not…

¥710 ;)

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#125

Post by pixelbash »

Personal anecdote, we flew into Narita and the customs line caused us to miss the bus that would have connected us to Haneda for our next flight. We were certain we would miss the flight, but instead we got one of the best taxi drivers I've ever met.

From what I gathered, in Japan you basically pay a set fine for travelling over a certain speed. So he added that into the fare (vaguely recall it was 15% or so).

Long story short, after some very impressive driving we got there in time. I gained a massive appreciation for Japanese taxi drivers that day.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#126

Post by SamReidHughes »

crdoconnor wrote: post #102
greggman wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel your pain. That's what taxi service has been like for me in SF and LA. Also it was effectively non-existent except for calling to be taken to the airport because there were so few. Japan, or at least the populated parts generally have tons of taxis so they are easy to find. They are polite and very clean, one thing western cabs are not. If they do something wrong (go the wrong way, end up taking the wrong road…

>Singapore is similar. Tons of cabs. In fact in Singapore you could book cabs in an app / online since like 2009. You get told the number of your cab so when lots of cabs are driving up you know yours is #27B-6. I had similarly nice experiences. I tried to tip a driver $3 for a $7 fare just so I could give him a $10 and he was like "too much lah!" and gave me $2 back. Singapore's cheapness is due to its extreme level…

> (they essentially had explicitly racist pay scales * )

Wrong. You're talking about Chinese-national bus drivers getting paid less in a country that's 75% Chinese ancestry.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#127

Post by nattofriends »

sergers wrote: post #50

Uber and other type apps are successful disrupting traditional taxi services where a heafty price tag is on medallions. Where countries like Japan who do not have a medallion system really, there is not much to drive prices up for taxi fares for Uber and like to undercut to be successful. A good taxi and transit system isnt everything... I live near YVR, we have taxis lined up at YVR for convenience. You are also pay…

I don't know about the details of constraining supply (medallion system), but taxis in Japan are not cheap. In Tokyo, they start at about 7 USD.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#128

Post by nattofriends »

known wrote: post #35

Japanese are different from rest of the world :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency

Technology was sourced from different companies, it just so happens that this is how they chose to deal with this problem. From your link:

> In Japan, the western part of the country (Kyoto and west) uses 60 Hz and the eastern part (Tokyo and east) uses 50 Hz. This originates in the first purchases of generators from AEG in 1895, installed for Tokyo, and General Electric in 1896, installed in Osaka. The boundary between the two regions contains four back-to-back HVDC substations which convert the frequency; these are Shin Shinano, Sakuma Dam, Minami-Fukumitsu, and the Higashi-Shimizu Frequency Converter.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#129

Post by crdoconnor »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #126
crdoconnor wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Singapore is similar. Tons of cabs. In fact in Singapore you could book cabs in an app / online since like 2009. You get told the number of your cab so when lots of cabs are driving up you know yours is #27B-6. I had similarly nice experiences. I tried to tip a driver $3 for a $7 fare just so I could give him a $10 and he was like "too much lah!" and gave me $2 back. Singapore's cheapness is due to its extreme level…

> (they essentially had explicitly racist pay scales * ) Wrong. You're talking about Chinese-national bus drivers getting paid less in a country that's 75% Chinese ancestry.

In Singapore the 'racial' hierarchy is: Chinese Singaporean -> White -> Malay Singaporean -> Indian Singaporean -> Malaysian -> PRC Chinese -> Bangladeshi

The bus driver salary hierarchy was : Singaporean -> Malaysian -> PRC Chinese

PRCs are regularly denigrated with terms like "foreign trash" and "PRC scum" - they get the epithets much worse than most other immigrants - with the exception of Bangladeshis. I don't know why they look down on them with disdain given their shared ancestry but they do. If you want to see this racism for yourself, look at the comments of a website called 'stomp'.

In any case, the salaries accurately reflected the default prejudices of the society. It would be like if American bus drivers paid whites more than latinos who in turn got more than blacks.

They went on strike because of this and got beaten up and thrown in prison before being deported.

Re: Uber's Failure in Japan

#130

Post by zyx321 »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #121
zyx321 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a convincing argument. We need to strictly regulate gay sex on public roads, and in all other places where it might endanger innocent bystanders. While we're at it, let's tax gay prostitutes who use our tax-funded public bathrooms for commercial purposes.

I'm confused what public roads have to do with anything. Does this mean you oppose regulation of private acts happening off the public roads? For example, if I want to employ people in a racist manner and pay them $3/hour in the privacy of my own bedroom, that's ok? Or perhaps if the democratic will of the people decides that blacks must use a separate but equal set of public roads, that's also OK? My only point is t…

No, you are perfectly happy to ignore the democratic will of the people when it leads to policies you dislike.
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