TOKYO, Jan 25 — Japan has quietly welcomed its first robotaxis as Waymo’s autonomous taxis have been zipping around the capital city without fanfare

They aren’t available on an app yet, and no one is saying when ordinary passengers will be able to hail one, The Japan Times reported today.

“It’s likely that the government wants to see what can be called Japan’s first robotaxis by 2027,” Mai Niizoe, a Tokyo-based researcher, was quoted as saying.

The testing is being run by taxi company Nihon Kotsu and Waymo, Google’s self-driving arm, but details are scarce.

According to the news report, Japan has been cautious in adopting driverless taxis compared to China and the United States, where autonomous cars are already operating in multiple cities.

The reasons given are supposedly the Japanese people’s conservative corporate and government attitudes, along with strict regulations, which have limited the trials by almost always including humans behind the wheel.

Honda had planned to launch a driverless taxi in Tokyo by 2026 with GM’s Cruise unit, but the US company pulled out in 2024, leaving Honda without a firm plan.

Nissan and Monet Technologies have also been testing autonomous vehicles in Yokohama and Tokyo’s Toyosu area, but these remain small-scale pilot programs.

Niizoe said the heart of the challenge is creating systems that can handle complex city traffic, not just rural or low-risk environments.

The Japan Times reported that local automakers have capital, but many lack the AI and software talent to develop self-driving cars alone, leaving them reliant on partnerships with companies like Waymo.

The newspaper observed that if Japan wants a viable urban robotaxi service by 2027, this year will be the make-or-break test for public experiments.