I think the biggest thing for me when I was living in the suburbs of Japan is that I could taxi from a station to a remote destination, but on the way back I had to either take a bus or just walk the whole way back. I definitely wish I had uber then. There are also some stations where there are no taxis waiting too. Tokyo is a terrible place to launch since like a lot of people pointed out you'll see 5 or 6 taxis pass by while you're waiting for your ride to come.
Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
91–100 of 107 posts
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#92I've used JapanTaxi (mentioned in the article) a fair number of times, and while there's nothing wrong with the experience of the app, oftentimes the biggest competitor to these ride-hailing apps is the fact that Tokyo's roads are so densely populated with taxis cruising everywhere that it's often faster to just hail one passing by than to open an app on your phone. I feel the Uber service itself has a sort of a 'pre…
In central Tokyo, hailing taxis is indeed easy, but out in the burbs it's a different story. The only way to get a cab at a relative's place -- and this is 15 min on foot from a major train station in Chiba, not bumfuck inaka -- is to call the local taxi company, preferably a day in advance. This being Japan, said company is super dependable, but they also only have like 3 cabs so if they can't come you're stuck.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
How long ago was this? In the past couple of years, I believe the backend systems have been integrated so you can use Tokyo-specific cards in Osaka and vice versa
This March. I wasn't able to use Suica for the Osaka busses.
Were you using some minor bus company? To a first approximation, all Japanese IC cards are compatible these days.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#94Who needs a taxi in Tokyo anyway? Can someone make a taxi-hailing app for inaka (Japanese countryside/less populated areas). You usually need to call a local taxi company there, but it's difficult to get a voice call SIM card for a foreign visitor. If you could get a taxi at a precise point of the map without having to somehow call and explain your whereabouts on the phone, it would be nothing short of a revolution.
The voice call SIM card is relatively less painful to obtain now. Previously you couldn't get it on a tourist visa, but now you can rent them from the airport (expensive) or buy them at electronics stores like Bic Camera and Yodabashi Camera.
You can get them at the airport too:
https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/73172/are-short-t...
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lots of places in Japan don't take Visa/Mastercard, so it's either Suica/Pasmo or cash. There's tons of vending machines, for instance, but they don't take credit cards, but a lot of them do take Suica. Suica is basically a debit card; you put money on it (there's terminals at all the subway stations) and then spend it on the subway/train fares and also at other places that accept it, like vending machines, taxis, an…
> The only thing I didn't like about Suica/Pasmo when I was in Japan was that, unlike a credit card, there doesn't seem to be a way to get a statement so you can see where you spent all your money I use Suikakeibo [0] for that. The latest 20-ish transactions seem to be stored on the card, so by scanning it using my phone every day I could keep a history of everything I used it for. You can even put in notes, since no…
> > The only thing I didn't like about Suica/Pasmo when I was in Japan was that, unlike a credit card, there doesn't seem to be a way to get a statement so you can see where you spent all your money
> I use Suikakeibo [0] for that. The latest 20-ish transactions seem to be stored on the card, so by scanning it using my phone every day I could keep a history of everything I used it for. You can even put in notes, since non-transit transaction don't list what you bought with it - just the amount.
> It makes for a nice reminder of my past trips. =)
> [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.mediavrog.....
Suica cards are readable on your phone via something like farebot (on Android). I'm able to see all my suica transactions on my phone via nfc.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
No Fees: Suica does not charge users merchant fees. Contrast that with a credit card, which charge fees as a % of transactions. Some credit cards with contactless functionality (eg. PayWave) charge a higher % if you use the contactless method rather than inserting or swiping. If you like money, well, you get more of it by using Suica. You do have to pay a 500 JPY deposit (refundable) when you first obtain the card. Y…
Suica was awesome in tokyo, but I wasn't able to use it in Osaka unfortunately. Other than that, I love it. I had the card originally but I switched to just using my phone.
I’ve used suica from Hokkaido to Kyuushuu. Some local bus lines don’t accept it, including the one in my city, but they seem to be gradually adding suica compatibility everywhere. It’ll probably be universal in a few more years (tech adoption is incredibly slow in Japan)
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve only been in Tokyo once ten years ago but I remember the regular taxis there being staggeringly expensive. Are app based rides really more expensive than that?
I think a big part of what makes them expensive is the massive distances you may have to travel in Tokyo. Distances you often don't realise how large they are when using the awesome public transportation offerings. Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example.
Tokyo taxis are legitimately some of the most expensive in the world per mile/minute.
e.g. on my last trip home from SF, my ride to SFO cost about a third of my ride home from Haneda – both being roughly the same time and distance. if you arrive in Narita after the last train has left, have fun paying $250 to get into the city.
on the other hand, it's nice that I never feel the need to take a taxi given the great transit system, but it does rule out things like buying bulky items in person and night-time flights.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely agree. In Kyoto, where I live, taxis are everywhere and cheap. That’s true even though I’m picky and try to use an MK cab whenever possible (top class of service, IMO). Cab drivers in Japan usually take pride in their work. It’s not uncommon to see one waiting outside a home and scrambling to meet the passengers at their front door with an open umbrella. Having said that, in Kyoto, more than anywhere else,…
> Cab drivers in Japan usually take pride in their work This is more of a Japanese work mentality than cab drivers being some high-skilled craftsman type class of workers. Cab drivers in Japan are generally very overworked and the demographics look quite bad: average age is something like 55, few newcomers because the pay isn't good and the hours are bad.
My friend became a cab driver in his 50s after he got laid off from his career. It’s not an easy gig. Their pride of service is definitely not unique in Japan, but is when compared to other cabbies elsewhere.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
This March. I wasn't able to use Suica for the Osaka busses.
Were you using some minor bus company? To a first approximation, all Japanese IC cards are compatible these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica#Interoperation
Actually on second thought, this happened in Fukuoka, not Osaka. In Osaka I was able to take the metro with Suica.
I ended up carrying around cash and change anyway since a lot of places in Tokyo were still cash only.
Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
> feel the Uber service itself has a sort of a 'premium' feeling around it in Japan, with the cars/staff/pricing being higher-class than the run-of-the-mill taxis you can hail. Isn't the average Japanese taxi some big Toyota Crown sedan already? How much more premium than that can you go?
> Isn't the average Japanese taxi some big Toyota Crown sedan already? How much more premium than that can you go? Toyota Century :) https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-new-emperor-picks-his-ri... Edit: Super short TL;DR from the article > Introduced in 1967, the Century isn’t for the flashy or hasty. Prospective customers can wait months because Toyota hand-builds each one. Background checks ensure the buyer is of a…
Those background checks don't seem to be working. Lots of 'yankees' running around in pimped up centuries.
https://www.google.com/search?q=%E3%83%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AD%...