{"id":13844,"date":"2016-03-04T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-05T02:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13844"},"modified":"2016-03-04T18:39:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-05T04:39:05","slug":"kyodo-kyoto-taxis-specializing-in-foreign-tourists-begin-one-year-trial-separate-taxi-stands-whats-next-separate-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13844","title":{"rendered":"Kyodo: Kyoto taxis specializing in foreign tourists begin one-year trial. Separate taxi stands? What’s next: separate hotels?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0Here’s something that feels more problematic the more I think about it: \u00a0“Foreigner-friendly” taxicabs being introduced in Kyoto. \u00a0As noted below, they are government-sponsored vehicles with multilingual drivers and more space for tourist luggage. \u00a0Sounds good so far. \u00a0Until you get to the fact that they have a separate alighting point at one station in Kyoto. \u00a0Already, we are getting into shades of “separate but equal<\/a>” (as opposed to equal and undifferentiated), which we are seeing in a number of venues dealing with foreign tourism (for example, here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

While I applaud the effort to improve service, it doesn’t resolve the root problem (mentioned within the Kyodo article below) — that taxi cabs are refusing NJ passengers. \u00a0So instead of going after miscreant taxis, they’re creating a separate\u00a0taxi system to equalize things. \u00a0Except that it won’t. \u00a0Think about it. \u00a0Now we’ll have busybody train station ojisan\u00a0waving \u00a0“foreign-looking” people over to the foreign taxi stand even when they’re not tourists. \u00a0Or we’ll have people being told that they have to go to that solitary Kyoto Station stand, regardless of where they are, if they want to get a “foreigner-friendly” cab. \u00a0And, with the law of unintended consequences, we’ll have even more taxi drivers refusing to pick up foreign-looking people — after all, their logic will go, “There’s already a taxi designated for them, so I don’t have to bother picking them up — they can wait for one.” \u00a0As if foreign-friendly taxis could ever\u00a0have the same coverage as regular taxis. \u00a0See, “separate but equal” essentially never works because, as history demonstrates<\/a>, it’s too hard to achieve.<\/p>\n

If they really want to improve service, have the city assign\u00a0somebody “foreign-looking” to hail taxis in Kyoto, and have him or her officially report misbehaving taxis to the Kyoto Tourist Agency (there is one, and I’ve done this very thing for at least one\u00a0exclusionary\u00a0Kyoto hotel; there were repercussions<\/a>). \u00a0And tell those taxis (like restaurants hear that they’re being reviewed by reviewers posing as regular customers) that there will be person(s) posing as an evaluator so you better not avoid picking up customers. \u00a0Monitoring for consumer quality is quite normal, and if Japan is serious about omotenashi, it had better avoid making historical mistakes. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n

(Further comment by submitter JDG here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Kyoto taxis specializing in foreign tourists begin one-year trial<\/strong>
\n KYODO\/JAPAN TIMES MAR 1, 2016, Courtesy of JDG<\/strong>
\n http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2016\/03\/01\/national\/kyoto-taxis-specializing-foreign-tourists-begin-one-year-trial\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

KYOTO \u2013 A one-year trial run for taxis aimed at non-Japanese tourists started Tuesday in the city of Kyoto, the first such service in Japan aimed at enhancing the experience for overseas visitors.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cforeigner-friendly taxis\u201d accept credit cards, have space for two large suitcases and drivers who are able to communicate in a variety of languages such as English and Chinese, project officials said.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The trial is being jointly organized by the city, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and other bodies.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A taxi stand for the cabs has been set up in front of JR Kyoto Station in Shimogyo Ward. A total of 69 taxis and 87 drivers from 23 cab operators will operate the service through next March.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to city officials, some taxi drivers have tended to refuse to pick up foreign tourists because of communication difficulties, and the new project is aimed at resolving this.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A ceremony to mark the start of the service was held Tuesday in front of the taxi stand.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mireia Daroca, a 30-year-old language teacher from Spain who lives in the city, said she has sometimes been asked by drivers in the past to write down her destination in Japanese, but with this service that will not be necessary.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s something that feels more problematic the more I think about it: “Foreigner-friendly” taxicabs being introduced in Kyoto. As noted below, they are government-sponsored vehicles with multilingual drivers and more space for tourist luggage. Sounds good so far. Until you get to the fact that they have a separate alighting point at one station in Kyoto. Already, we are getting into shades of “separate but equal” (as opposed to equal and undifferentiated), which we are seeing in a number of venues dealing with foreign tourism (for example, here).<\/p>\n

While I applaud the effort to improve service, it doesn’t resolve the root problem (mentioned within the Kyodo article below) — that taxi cabs are refusing NJ passengers. So instead of going after miscreant taxis, they’re creating a separate taxi system to equalize things. Except that it won’t. Think about it. Now we’ll have busybody train station ojisan waving “foreign-looking” people over to the foreign taxi stand even when they’re not tourists. Or we’ll have people being told that they have to go to that solitary Kyoto Station stand, regardless of where they are, if they want to get a “foreigner-friendly” cab. And, with the law of unintended consequences, we’ll have even more taxi drivers refusing to pick up foreign-looking people — after all, their logic will go, “There’s already a taxi designated for them, so I don’t have to bother picking them up — they can wait for one.” As if foreign-friendly taxis could ever have the same coverage as regular taxis. See, “separate but equal” essentially never works because, as history demonstrates, it’s too hard to achieve.<\/p>\n

If they really want to improve service, have the city assign somebody “foreign-looking” to hail taxis in Kyoto, and have him or her officially report misbehaving taxis to the Kyoto Tourist Agency (there is one, and I’ve done this very thing for at least one exclusionary Kyoto hotel; there were repercussions). And tell those taxis (like restaurants hear that they’re being reviewed by reviewers posing as regular customers) that there will be person(s) posing as an evaluator so you better not avoid picking up customers. Monitoring for consumer quality is quite normal, and if Japan is serious about omotenashi, it had better avoid making historical mistakes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,36,22,4,11,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-bad-social-science","category-cultural-issue","category-japanese-government","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}