How do you get a taxi in Japan?
Short answer
Raise a hand at any vacant taxi, or queue at a station rank. A red sign in the windscreen means it is free.
Telling a free taxi from a taken one
A small illuminated sign sits in the bottom corner of the windscreen. Red characters mean the taxi is empty and will stop for you. Green usually means it is already hired, and the exact colours vary by company, but red for vacant is close to universal.
Raise a hand and hold it up rather than waving. Drivers are watching for a still, obvious signal from the kerb.
Where to find one
Stations, hotels and department stores have ranks, and the queue is orderly — take the front car rather than picking one. Late at night in entertainment districts the ranks are where the taxis are, because empty ones stop circulating.
Hailing on the street works well outside those hours. On some narrow or busy roads a taxi cannot legally stop, so walking to a wider street is faster than waiting.
Paying, and the address problem
The meter is the price. Cards and IC cards work in almost every taxi now, and a receipt is printed without asking.
Japanese addresses are not sequential along a street, so even a local driver may not recognise one by name. Showing the destination on a map, or naming a large landmark nearby, saves several minutes of confusion.
Good to know
- A late-night surcharge applies; the meter adds it for you
- No tipping, here as everywhere else in Japan
Through an app. Beijing's own guidance says waving at the kerb is so obsolete it barely works — DiDi, with an English interface, is how rides happen.
Insist on the meter — switching it off for a fixed price is illegal, and 1584 is the government hotline for reporting it. Tuk-tuks have no meter, so that price is negotiated before you get in.
By brand, not by chance: the tourism board names the reputable metered firms — Mai Linh in green, Vinasun in white, Taxi Group in Hanoi — and the apps work if you have a local SIM.
Apps do most of the work. Street hailing works, but a driver may pass on a destination they do not fancy.
Flag a yellow cab on the street — the meter does the rest. There is even an English-language hotline, 0800-055-850, that orders one for you.