Japanese Taxi Drivers

Is the Japanese training for a taxi driver the hardest in the world because of the streets and people all over Japan? Also why do they pick such a low paying profession in a country where everyone is well educated?

Is the Japanese training for a taxi driver the hardest in the world because of the streets and people all over Japan?

I don't think taxi drivers in any country go through much, if any, training. You just got to know the roads by experience. Anyway, these days many of the taxis in Japan have gps navigation.

Also why do they pick such a low paying profession in a country where everyone is well educated?

Definitely everyone is not well educated in Japan. School is only mandatory through junior high school. High school is an option that some students can't afford, can't get into, or opt not to go to.

Japan isn't only salarymen and engineers. It has a large unskilled labor force, for example the construction industry and factory jobs are not uncommon career paths.

I don't know about the training.
Also why do they pick such a low paying profession in a country where everyone is well educated?

Its a job thats needed.

Imagine if there were no taxi drivers or taxis to get people from place to place.

Not everyone is well educated.

But that doesn't mean well educated people don't become taxi drivers.

There are many lower paid positions in Japan, but economical situation, education, or other situations in life people often take whatever job is available.

Not everyone can become a doctor, lawyer or politician.

This is not a uniquely Japanese problem, but you see this everywhere in the world.

I have heard that London taxi drivers have to know London's streets off by heart (called "The Knowledge"), so they have to do some study.

In Japan, I almost always have to give the taxi driver directions to where I want to go- there is no way to learn all the streets in a countries where most of the streets have no names. Therefore, less study required.

Driving in Tokyo doesn't require extra training either, you just have to be careful because of the narrow streets and one-way system.

In Japan

I am highly impressed by the professional etiquette of the taxi drivers in Tokyo. In one occasion, the driver could not find the hotel ( it was hidden somewhere in the back alleys ), he stopped the meter and called the hotel. At last, he found the hotel and dropped me at the door with apology before driving off. The following day, another driver had the same problem and took him quite a while to locate the hotel. He charged me much lesser than the meter fares and apologized for the delay.

Tju must have been so lucky. His (her?) experiences sound like something you'd get from a London black cab driver. I can't tell you how much I've been harrassed by cab drivers in Tokyo. It's such a pity when you think about the few great drivers.

Back to the topic, cab driving is not really the lowest paying job you'd get in Japan. If you become skilled and experienced, you can register to be a "kojin-taxi" driver, in other words run your own business with the support of the union, which can be quite rewarding.

And as others have mentioned, suppose everyone is so educated, among all those educated people who is going to drive cabs? Some people do it cause they love it.

Some Japanese Taxi dirvers do undergo training. I was in a taxi just the other day where the driving was training and had an instructor in the car with us giving instructions on the proper way to do things, the best route, etc.

BTW, I have never had a bad experience with a Japanese taxi driver.