Taxi for a short distance

Is 1.3 km/ 0.8 mile considered too short of a distance for a taxi ride in Tokyo? I am hoping that the taxi driver won't turn me away.

I will be going from my reserved hotel to Mandarin Oriental Hotel to get on the Limousine bus heading for the airport. I am traveling with a baby, a luggage, and a backpack; I would rather get a taxi than walk. Of course I could just stay at Mandarin Oriental and avoid the distance but that would just be way out of my budget.

No, because the basic fare for the first 2 km is 710 yen, so the driver will still be paid that amount even if you only go 1.3 km. I live exactly 1.3 km from the station and often take a taxi home if I have heavy luggage- the meter never goes past the base fare of 710 yen but I have never had a taxi driver complain about it- I think a lot of taxi drivers' business in Tokyo is made up of these short hops.

As long as you are on the side of the road appropriate for the direction you are going (i.e. the taxi driver doesn't have to turn around in heavy traffic), it should be no problem.

Fann,

Ask your reserved hotel for assistance, which is what I always do wherever country I travel to/in including Japan. Just ask, "Is it easy to fetch a taxi here?" and they will assist you if they think you'd have a problem. If you reserve a taxi in advance, you need to pay extra, so just say you want to catch one from the street.

Because, although it's very common to ride short distances especially with luggage and a small child, I have to say that some drivers do consider 1.3km as a very short distance and may frown or pretend to not notice you depending on the hour or situation. Taxi driving is not the easiest way to make money, so a lot of drivers prefer users who travel a distance "worth while the driver's work." But a little assistance will help you a lot.

I used to live about 1 km away from my firm's office in Roppongi and at times would take a cab home late at night (if the bus had stopped running and I wanted to avoid the touts in Roppongi Crossing). I usually didn't have a problem getting a cab as they'd be queued up at the building's taxi stand, but sometimes when the drivers would hear where I was going, they would deliberately take a longer route to run up the meter! Of course, this isn't a problem unique to Japan, but it really pissed me off when the meter would go up to 980 yen or even more, because I knew the trip could be completed for 710 yen (since I took the trip so many times).

So be prepared to maybe pay an extra 200-300 yen! Although if you are familiar with the area, you can tell the driver, ''Please take such-and-such road.'' I've found that even when I've told drivers, ''Please take the most direct route,'' I've gotten taken for a ride, but if I tell them, ''Please take such-and-such road'' it happens less.

Thanks for the helpful answers. Sounds like I should be able to get in a taxi for my route. It may not be the first driver i see, I might be over-charged a bit, but I will get there. Will ask the hotel personnel for help, too.

Definitely no overcharge. No taxi driver in Japan will risk a blame for illegal overcharging. In fact, suburb railway stations are crowded with taxis late at night after bus service has ended for short-distance ride for commuters. However, it will not be welcomed by taxi drivers to bid a short-disnace ride from a hotel when a lot of cabs are on the waiting line (you will not be rejected though). Giving substantial tips, which is not customary in Japan, may be a good idea.

No the distance is not far. I was running late for a meeting once and I knew that if I continued to walk from the station I would be late, but if I could get a cab I would be there in a minute and have some extra minutes to spare. So I flagged a cab and went. No fuss about it.

From the Tokyo station/ Limousine bus drop-off point to the hotel at (10:00PM): 1160

From the hotel back to the Tokyo station at (7:45AM): 780

The drivers didn't give me any hard time. The second driver even helped me with the luggage.

sounds like you were taken for a ride the first time then? although part of the cost might be due to the increased fare rates at night...

From around 10pm taxis have an additional nighttime surcharge.

Tokyo taxis charge a 20 percent late night fee from 10-11pm and a 30 percent late night fee from 11PM-5AM.

After accounting for the late night fee there's still a difference in your charges though which is either a pickup surcharge, or more likely equates to an return route that was 2-3 blocks longer than the first taxi. This is not at all suspicious considering how one way streets and exactly where you caught the taxi can easily affect the route by such a short distance.

Thanks for the update! Its great to see people reporting back on their trips, and I hope you had an enjoyable time.

thanks for the elaboration. i was thinking, even with the late night subcharge, it was still too much for just a subcharge.