Fukuoka has announced the introduction of Japan's first "taxi concierge" service. The team will operate from the taxi stands at Fukuoka airport and JR Hakata station, meeting foreign visitors and translating their destinations to the drivers. There will be 78 in total: 60 recruited from a local cabin crew training school, 8 through general ads and 10 Korean trainees. They will be available between 9:00am and 7:00pm which means, in general, they won't be around to help with that key communication breakdown between driver and drunk tourist.The scheme is expected to cost 18 million yen a year which will be met by the Fukuoka Taxi Association. Fukuoka has been named by the Tourist Agency, along with Kyoto, Urayasu (Disneyland), Hiroshima and Yokohama, as one of five strategic regions for tourism promotion. If this trial scheme works then the Agency may look to encourage its adoption elsewhere.
Source (Japanese)
