No Ride-Sharing in Japan? 全然知らなかった！

I read an article about ride-sharing in Japan earlier today, and it actually had me thinking why I've never seen it being advertised or being talked about. I never actually realised that ride sharing is banned in Japan. Honestly, with Japan's public transport being pretty good (except when it isn't) there doesn't seem like there is a market for it here. Given the responses to the survey mentioned article, I can't say I'm surprised that many people in Japan wouldn't use ride-sharing services if the ban was lifted. 

I've only used uber when I went to the US to visit my girlfriend when she was studying and, given that you need a car to get around many parts of the country, it was very convenient. Fortunately, our experiences during the trip there were positive, we were able to reach our destinations without trouble, and one driver was actually kind enough to wait for us to finish our bit of shopping before taking us back to my gf's apartment. Mind you, this was 8 years ago, so I'm not sure what the state of ride-sharing services is like in the US these days. 

But anyway, there was another article I came across that mentions a local government planning to set up a ride-sharing service for kids in Yokohama though this seems to be using taxis. Since a lot of children are attending cram schools (juku/塾 as it is called in Japanese) or attending club activities at their schools, and parents usually not able to pick up their kids due to work and such, this looks like a promising idea, as Japan believes that children should be able go to and from home in relative safety - which is why you see a lot of kids walking to and from schools in groups, with the older students leading the younger students - though I've noticed this in more in rural parts of the country.

As for introducing ride sharing services in Japan, I'm indifferent to it really. Considering trains run until midnight, and taxis are generally not that hard to catch - at least in my experiences - I think it won't be catching on in Japan any time soon - at least until efforts are made to dispel the notion that it's unsafe.