Japanese box taxis
The traditional Japanese taxi cab has been a four-door sedan. Typically, a Toyota Crown, known as the Premium Taxi. But after Tokyo was chosen in Buenos Aires in September 2013 to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games a new style of taxi cab was conceived and introduced - the Toyota JPN taxi, nicknamed the box type. There are two other box-type cabs: the Toyota Prius alpha, the Toyota Alphard taxi, and the Nissan NV200. The larger van type, the Nissan Serena, accommodates wheelchairs. The box type cabs were introduced to Tokyo over the last few years as part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympics preparations - to transport the many anticipated foreign tourists - big and tall people with lots of baggage, and passengers with special needs. The box type cabs come in various liveries depending on the company. I prefer is the Toyota JPN model. Recently, events in my personal life forced me to use cabs here with a previously unprecedented regularity, and I prefer the box type cabs. They are spacious and easy to enter/exit. I’ve spoken to some Japanese about them and they agree. The box type is more comfortable. They look strange, because they look like boxes on wheels, and so they take some getting used to. But after that, they are quite nice, I think. I kind of feel sorry for the box type. They were built and introduced for the expected wave of foreign tourists for the Olympics, and now those foreign tourists are barred from attending. They represent some kind of existential tragedy. Oh, well.
Of course, these automobiles are commercially available passenger cars that anyone can buy. They just happen to have also been adopted as taxi cabs by various cab companies around the world.
Here are some facts about Japanese taxis. Different taxis have different far structures. But for the most part, it costs 420 yen just to board them. After that, they cost 80 yen for every 233 meters traveled. Seatbelts are mandatory. Smoking is prohibited. There is a 10% disability discount for fares that exceed ¥9,000 one way, but only if the passenger has a photo ID disability voucher from the city hall. As always with every cab in Japan, doors open and close automatically. The driver controls the doors. A red indicator lamp in the windshield shows that a cab is available. A green indicator lamp shows that it’s occupied. Drivers are uniformed in a jacket and necktie, and often wear white cotton gloves. In preparation for the Olympic Games, many drivers studied English to prepare. Credit card readers were added as a payment option - which benefits Japanese as well as tourists - and digital video cameras were added to all cars as a security measure. After payment, drivers will automatically offer a paper receipt. As with cab drivers everywhere, the drivers’ photo ID and license are prominently displayed (in Japanese). Sometimes I can read their names and address them politely.
Long ago, it used to be necessary for a passenger to be able to describe to the driver how to find a destination, because the cities are so large, the road system so complex, and the addressing system so cumbersome. You can still do that, but since the introduction of GPS navigation computers it’s more common just to tell the driver the address - or have it written down for him to look at - and it’s much easier than before. Of course, drivers are likely to know automatically the way to well-known sites and locations - hotels, temples, stations, hospitals, prominent buildings, etc.