
Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo - imjennifer
https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/22/sony-taxi-tokyo-japan/
======
needle0
I'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 'premium' feeling around it in
Japan, with the cars/staff/pricing being higher-class than the run-of-the-mill
taxis you can hail. As such they don't seem to be used too often. I only use
Uber/Lyft when traveling to the US; In Japan I come into contact with the
brand much more often from the context of Uber Eats.

~~~
ginko
> 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?

~~~
citruspi
> 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...](https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-new-emperor-picks-his-ridean-old-
school-toyota-11556366401)

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 an appropriate caliber, and not a member of an
> “antisocial organization”—a Japanese euphemism for the yakuza crime
> syndicates.

It's only sold in Japan.

Edit 2: Some more information courtesy of Wikipedia -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Century)

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jessaustin
Are we sure that's the same car used for taxis?

~~~
kalleboo
He's answering the question "How much more premium than that can you go"

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Vizarddesky
Doesn’t matter, nobody will use it. Taxi service in japan is good enough to
where this won’t be a big factor. Ride hailing services are much more
expensive than taxi’s.

~~~
odiroot
Are taxis there not trying to scam you as it is everywhere in the EU?

~~~
mseidl
German taxis are fine.

~~~
runeb
Interestingly, Uber in Germany (Berlin at least) are taxis

[https://www.rbb24.de/content/dam/rbb/rbb/rbb24/2018/2018_10/...](https://www.rbb24.de/content/dam/rbb/rbb/rbb24/2018/2018_10/dpa-
account/taxi.jpg.jpg/size=708x398.jpg)

~~~
mseidl
I'd never use Uber

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brianbreslin
I went to Japan last year and speak rudimentary japanese. One big challenge
for taxi use was always explaining where I needed to go. If I could have
plugged in the address in an app, I would have saved myself some confusion.
That said, the Tokyo taxi drivers know the city better than any driver I've
ever seen ever. GPS is almost a complete waste on them.

~~~
teachrdan
As a longtime Japan traveler, I recommend picking up business cards (called
"shop cards" in Japan) for basically anywhere you go, because:

0\. Japanese business cards often have beautiful design.

1\. They are a good way to remember the cool places you visit.

2\. They often have a map on the back that show you how to walk there from the
nearest train station(s).

3\. They have the address on the front, which you can show your taxi driver--
no verbal communication necessary! (besides the obligatory _onegaishimasu_ )

~~~
cwkoss
What is the japanese word for "shop cards"? Mise Meishi?

~~~
teachrdan
Literally you can just say, "Shoppu Kaado arimasuka?" (do you have any shop
cards?)

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randyrand
To people think public transit negates taxis - public transit in stops around
12am/1am until about 6am.

If you're trying to get home in those hours taxis are your only options. Many
people that go out at night just sleep on the streets, its pretty crazy!

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omot
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.

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Grue3
Who 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.

~~~
wiggler00m
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.

~~~
9nGQluzmnq3M
You can get them at the airport too:

[https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/73172/are-
short-t...](https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/73172/are-short-term-
visitors-in-japan-allowed-to-buy-voice-enabled-sim-cards)

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rado
Interesting, as Sony is usually very bad at UX (PlayMemories, choppy PS4
dashboard etc).

~~~
ekianjo
Sony is not "one company", they have tons of independent branches/divisions
working separately on different projects, so the failure of one group does not
infer the failure of another.

~~~
beatgammit
Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky? Perhaps it is
an issue with their approach to QA than any of the individual teams. If so, I
don't expect this app to be any different.

Regardless, if people associate your brand with "clunky", they'll find reasons
to dislike even a quality app. You really need to be consistent across your
product lines to benefit from brand recognition.

~~~
ekianjo
> Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky?

Because good design is rare in general? Most products are designed very
poorly, and big corporations are no exception.

~~~
lowtto
big corps moves much slower, and they have bigger teams. its like food with
too much seasonings.

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Abishek_Muthian
>Lyft has expressed an interest in Japan, where its investor Rakuten is a
major name, but it has not expanded there yet.

Point to note, Rakuten owns Viber Messenger as well, so it could integrate
taxi service on it for japan, though I presume that it doesn't have as much
user base as LINE in Japan. Viber has larger user base overall
internationally.

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flyGuyOnTheSly
>Because ride-hailing with civilian cars is illegal in Japan, the service will
focus on connecting licensed taxis with passengers.

That is illegal wherever taxis are licensed.

Was uber/lyft really stopped in Japan because it's illegal?

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room271
I am still amazed Uber IPO'd for what it did (even though it was still
considerably less than they'd expected).

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radcon
I thought the general plan for ride-hailing companies was to exploit human
drivers while losing piles of money in the hope that AI would eventually
replace humans and make the whole venture profitable. I haven't heard anything
about Sony having a self-driving car division, so what's their plan?

~~~
dmurray
Taxi companies are profitable, and it's normal for big Japanese companies to
have diverse business lines (Mitsubishi mining, Nissan insurance...)

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Divyanshi2017
Sony is trying something that is new for them .

