The case of the disappearing taxi drivers of Tokyo

Tokyo

IT is 2020 and you have come to Tokyo to watch the Olympic Games. You arrive at Haneda Airport and because it is quite close to the city centre (compared to Narita from where it can take two hours to reach Tokyo), you decide to take a cab. Tokyo taxis are, after all, "different", you have heard.

They are all smart Nissan or Toyota saloons, you imagine, where you can relax comfortably while a white-gloved and smartly uniformed professional driver chauffeurs you smoothly and safely to your hotel (always assuming that he can understand your English).

You make your way to the taxi rank and look for the typically yellow, green or black saloons but all that you see is a line of rather boxy-lookin…