Japan Taxi Apps

For a more convenient travel in Japan, a taxi app is great to hail a taxi if you don’t mind the expensive taxi fare in the country. Not only can the destination be designated with a click, but it can also pay for the fare via your smart phone. Here are the mostly used taxi apps in Japan.

GO - the Largest Taxi App around Japan

Taxi of GO

As the programs of JapanTaxi and MOV have been merged, Japan's largest taxi-hailing service platform GO was born. Taxies of both JapanTaxi and MOV can be hailed, so 100,000 taxis in total are dispatchable.

Once you register with your name and email, you can use it immediately. If you would like to pay online via the app, you need to bind your credit card information as well. Surprisingly, a registration with oversea phone numbers and credit card is acceptable since November 2023.

In addition, GO offers a service called "AI Reservations" in some regions, with which you can set the time to use the taxi. “15 minutes later” is the shortest time period for reservation service, while “1 hour later”, "2 hours later", or any moment more than 15 minutes can be set. What’s more, you can call a flat-rate taxi easily at Haneda Airport with no reservation.

Service coverage area	Prefectures around Japan
Languages	Japanese & English
Payment	Cash, credit card, GO Pay, d pay

Note: Not all the taxies support mobile payments perhaps.

S.RIDE

S.RIDE - Typical Tokyo Taxi App

S.RIDE is widely used around Tokyo, as its service covers all the 23 wards of Tokyo city, Mitaka, Musashino, Saitama & Kanagawa in the surroundings. S.RIDE is a Tokyo taxi app owned by Sony, who explains that the “S” not only stands for Sony, but also highlights a "Simple", "Smart" and "Speedy" service. It has been one of the most user-friendly taxi apps in Japan since it came out.

You can hail a taxi in time, or make a reservation in 20 minutes or within 6 days. Also, you can find or ask for an issuance of the billing details even if you lost the receipts.

Service coverage area	Mainly Tokyo and its surroundings, other big cities like Nagoya and Osaka
Languages	Japanese & English
Payment	Cash, credit card, S.RIDE Wallet, Apple Pay

DiDi - the Largest Taxi App from China

DiDi, from China, has been introduced into Japan since 2018. Its service has expanded to Tokyo and the surroundings, major cities in Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, etc., especially Wakayama and Shiga), Hokkaido, Kyushu, and more areas.

What is interesting is that DiDi in Japan does not support Chinese at present, but the app in Chinese version can be applied in Japan.

Service coverage area	Major cities in 15 prefectures
Languages	Japanese, English, Spanish
Payment	Cash, credit card, Alipay, PayPay

Uber - Wide Range for Use

You may be familiar with Uber, as it’s a super large taxi app that can be applied in over 700 cities around the world. There is no exception in Japan. If you go abroad often, Uber is good for you.

In Japan, Uber is acceptable in the areas centered on large cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Sendai. However, Uber works with local taxi companies only in Japan, so the taxies nearby can be hailed but you can hardly find a taxi with the logo of Uber in the nation.

Service coverage area	Major areas of big cities in Japan
Languages	More than 30 languages: Japanese, English, French, German, etc.
Payment	Cash, credit card, maybe mobile payment

Grab - The Platform Mainly for Southeast Asian Users

Grab, headquartered in Singapore, is a Southeast Asia-focused taxi platform. Since 2019, the users of Grab are able to utilize the taxi app in Japan, available in Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, Nagoya, and Okinawa. It can be registered with your phone number, Google or Facebook account; and a credit card should be bound before the use.

Service coverage area	Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, Nagoya and Okinawa
Languages	Indonesian, Cambodian, Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Malay, Simplified Chinese, English
Payment	Online payment

Fulcul - No Registration Required

Fulcul is a Tokyo taxi app that does not need to register. As it is downloaded, it can be used immediately. As long as you shake your phone, Fulcul will find the taxies nearby, and you can also check the condition of these taxies running on roads. Besides, it is tempting that no pick-up fee is charged. However, if no taxi is discovered around, you can’t get a car probably.

Service coverage area	Tokyo city, Mitaka & Musashino in the environs
Languages	Japanese, English
Payment	Cash, credit card, etc.