Tokyo taxi in distress

[Mulboyne]

This was a while back in Otemachi. The cab driver was looking for the entrance for underground parking and decided to improvise.
The guy who took this picture saw it happening and is only sorry he didn't have his camera to catch the passengers getting out.
Nobody hurt.

[Taro Toporific]

The cab driver was looking for the entrance for underground parking and decided to improvise.
The guy who took this picture saw it happening and is only sorry he didn't

Hey, I feel for the cabbie trying to "improvise."

The hardest thing for me to grasp when I first started driving in Tokyo was learning the subtle cues to distinguish between a drive-way and an entrance to a major road.

Yesterday on Hwy 246, Tokyo's largest east-west multilane road, I took an exit to Carrefour Supermaket (Machida) which was only 1.9m wide. Coming off Hwy 246, it was a 90 degree turn at a posted 60 km/hr speed limit. Yeeha, ride 'em cowboy! Now that "deciding to improvise" driftin'!

[Mulboyne]

When my parents first went out to Japan a few years back, I decided I'd take them to Ukai Toriyama. Unfortunately, I got myself a bit mixed up and ended up going to Takao-san station on the Chuo line instead of Takao-san guchi on the Keio.
So, no Ukai Toriyama shuttle bus. We're getting late so we grab a taxi. We're also on the wrong side of the station and the taxi needs to cross the tracks and there is a queue.
Sensing my urgency, the driver tries to push the pace to help us out. Unfortunately, this meant driving onto the tracks before the road ahead was clear to take us.
"Ha, ha" said my Dad, a former cab driver, "If you did this in London, there'd be hell to pay".
As he finished speaking, the bells started ringing and the gates started closing with our cab stuck in the middle.
Our predicament was well appreciated by the cars coming the other way across the tracks and they all honked their horns to let us know we were in trouble.
The taxi driver slammed his foot on the accelerator, then the brake, then the accelerator again. I still don't know if the cars on both sides of the road in front moved to accomodate us or simply tried to avoid being rammed but the front of the taxi was off the tracks and the barrier had come down on the roof.
A bit more movement ahead and we had enough space to slide over at a 45 degree angle. But we were stuck. Something was holding us back. Whatever it was, we suddenly surged forward again and the barrier closed behind us.
The congratulatory honking started again as the taxi driver got out of his car and didn't let up as he returned to his seat carrying the taxi company sign which had been ripped off the top of his cab.
Nice dinner.

[Mulboyne]

Do you know many taxi drivers with their own web page? And who is this FG?

Jazz Taxi home page

[Mulboyne]

Just so we know what we're talking about

[Taro Toporific]

..... who is this FG?
Jazz Taxi home page

Is this a "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" question?

Most of the photos are labeled in their HTML tags.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/jazztaxi/chickandme.jpg
http://homepage2.nifty.com/jazztaxi/ltabakin2.jpg
http://homepage2.nifty.com/jazztaxi/rbreker.jpg etc.

The picture of the FG is the jazz great ,Chick Corea, although I haven't seen or talked with him since 1986.


He sounds like a cool driver...he's been on TV a few times. He's a real oddball born in 1942 Manchuria and fell into a taxi driving by catering to the jazz lovers in his Driving jazz house carrying a vacuum tube amplifier.

Fun items I found on the site were:
In birthday of madam jazz cruising March 19th
Being surrounded in the young woman, large satisfaction

[kamome]

[Mulboyne]

I even saved the pic on this site as "Chick and Me" but didn't make the obvious connection with the Jazz Taxi theme. I've now washed down a jar of QP Gold with some genki drinks.

The "helpful" taxi pic comes from here:

More than you could want to know about Japanese Taxis

Bit out of date now but includes links to Tokyo taxi company web sites; graphs of transportation usage in Tokyo; a guide to the maddening Ginza taxi stands; pictures of taxis around the world; a personality test based on types of US cab, how to become a taxi driver in 6 easy stages;
The history of Japanese taxis from 1912 (first ones appear to have been Ford Model Ts) - they started business on the 5th August which is why we have>>>>>>>



Can anyone explain why we should respond to Taxi Day? Does anyone decide to support this? In London, a Taxi Day usually means cab drivers giving up their time to take underprivileged children to the beach for the day (I believe they also take them back) or raising money for charity.

Did you know there are Taxi Watchers? Like trainspotters or plane spotters?

Everything else about Japanese taxis that you really don't need to know

[Mulboyne]

Jazz Taxi home page

Taro to pointed out a a couple of years ago that it's Chick Corea in the picture. Now this piece from the Asahi gives a bit more background:

Specialty taxis target discerning customers

As the voice of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York" sets the mood, Toshiyuki Anzai's Jazz Taxi takes a passenger from Tokyo's Marunouchi business district to a spot he calls Little New York...Anzai hopes to accommodate a wide range of tastes. He says he's invested 1.5 million yen in his cab's audio equipment...While some in his generation are slow to adopt new technology, he embraces it to promote his business. He has had his own Web site since 2001...Many jazz legends Anzai has long admired have ridden in his cab. The passenger list includes such greats as Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau, Randy Weston and Toshiko Akiyoshi. Award-winning novelist Ira Ishida, inspired by Anzai, incorporated a jazz-taxi driver character in one of his novels...more...