Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 19 december 2019
The Tokyo taxi driver: Suit and tie — white gloves optional

By STEPHEN WADE "People get drunk and
Associated Press sometimes they throw up
TOKYO (AP) — Very few in the car, and we have
countries deliver better ser- to clean up the car," Nori-
vice than Japan: in shops, hito explained. He said he
in restaurants, or in taxis. routinely offers a specially
It's called "Omotenashi" designed bag to unsteady
and translates roughly as customers.
hospitality — or offering If that doesn't work, and
customers unreserved at- it's what he termed, "small
tention. damage," he can clean it
Visitors always comment on up and keep driving. If it's
it. And it's no accident. too bad, this automatical-
Take Tokyo taxi driver Nori- ly ends his shift, the rest of
hito Arima, for instance, as which goes to cleaning up
he stands alongside 30 or the mess.
40 other drivers at a roll call Norihito said the "damage"
before his 18-hour shift with occurs a couple of times a
the taxi company Nihon year and, under company
Kotsu. policy, drivers are told not
He drives in a suit and tie. to collect fares from these
White gloves are optional. customers. Why create
Drivers are not allowed to more problems?
have tattoos or wear sun- A Nihon Kotsu taxi passes through the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo on a rainy afternoon, Fri- He said it's not easy to
glasses, and men must be day, Nov. 22, 2019. Associated Press avoid the heavy drinkers.
clean-shaven. The muster With few exceptions, the
wraps up as drivers — 95% pics: poorly trained drivers, law requires drivers to pick
are men — bow toward a dilapidated cars, and slop- up customers requesting a
small Shinto shrine. And for py dress. A decade ago ride. Also, it's impossible to
good measure, they under- in Beijing, the government ignore a customer if a res-
go a breathalyzer before published edicts for drivers ervation has been booked
hitting the road. to stop spitting, clean their ahead of time.
"It's something like the taxis, and warned about "We just can't do anything
army," Norihito said. eating on the job. about it," he said. "Go back
The company also has a Customers also got lessons and clean it up, and that's
booklet for drivers with 77 on waiting in line and not it."
dos and don'ts: how and jumping ahead. Norihito has an MBA and
when to speak to passen- This shouldn't be at prob- speaks English fluently. For
gers, taxi sanitation and lem at next year's Tokyo drivers who don't, the com-
opening doors for custom- Olympics. pany has a tablet to assist
ers. There's even one in- "Japanese people have a with language and a ho-
structing drivers to keep pride in this service," Norihi- Norihito Arima, a 33-year-old taxi driver working for Nihon Kot- tline for translation emer-
both hands on the wheel. to said in an interview with su, one of the largest taxi companies in Japan, takes off his tie gencies.
Taxi service has been a The Associated Press. "In after returning from his graveyard shift Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, Drivers can earn about
concern at some Olym- the western notion, an indi- in Tokyo. Associated Press 50,000-60,000 yen — about
$450-550 — in a typical 18-
vidual is independent. But hour shift. Drivers keep half
we Japanese are homo- and the company gets the
geneous. We think of each other half.
other as part of the society, Norihito acknowledged
the community. So the hon- that when he started driv-
or we get as a group is part ing three years ago — he
of the honor each member gave up a "boring office
gets." job" as a data analyst —
Japan is not perfect, of he barely knew his way
course. Commuters often around Greater Tokyo, an
push to get on crowded area of about 35 million.
subway trains or bump "I couldn't tell Shibuya from
into anonymous strangers Shinjuku," he said, despite
on the sidewalk without passing a test that was
apology. Westerns usually much less rigorous than,
receive great service, but say, London's famous "The
some other non-Japanese Knowledge" exam for taxi
complain they do not. drivers.
Japan has a low crime rate, "There is no easy job in Ja-
which is good news for taxis pan, but relatively I feel
drivers. But nocturnal Tokyo comfortable doing this job,"
presents a heavy-drinking he said. "I like it because I
Norihito Arima, a 33-year-old taxi driver working for Nihon Kotsu, one of the largest taxi compa- culture that can — literally can do it by myself. Sure,
nies in Japan, puts on white gloves in his taxi while getting ready to work Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019, — wind up in the laps of taxi there are problems but I
in Tokyo. drivers who work overnight, don't need to get involved
Associated Press as Norihito does. in office politics."q