Originally Posted by
Pureboy
I didnt know that about ryokans- interesting!
Yeah, the concept of even considering taxis was something I had to wrap my head around this time. It took towards the end of the trip (we had already taken some taxis) when my wife said to me something like "we get it, public transportation is great here. But there's 6 of us and it is much easier and probably cheaper to hop in and out of an air conditioned taxi." And she was totally right.
In my mind, it was always NRT to/from Japan, so no taxi there, and then it was only if you partied past the last train and needed to get home. Also, the yen was stronger and it was only me or with a companion or two at most. I could count on one hand the number of taxis I took in my last 3 trips before this one.
Not so long ago there were very few opportunities for 6 people travelling together to be able to hop in and out of a taxi without the stress of splitting up. Taxi drivers never had to take “The Knowledge” London cabbies are famous for, so before GPS it really was a randomised adventure as to how you would end up at your destination.
Wasn’t it the ill fated Olympics that encouraged more cabs able to accommodate larger groups and those travelling with wheelchairs?
Circumstances and technology caught up in time for your trip.
A few years ago 3 family members from Japan came to visit me in coastal Spain. As a group of 5, travel became horrendously difficult, no taxi firms had vehicles to accommodate our group.