This Japanese Taxi livery first saw service around the 1964 Tokyo Olympics but is still in use today, at least on one very special Taxi.
Because Ride Sharing services aren’t a thing in Japan, people still use Taxis. It’s against the law for untrained drivers to transport passengers for business purposes. One of those Taxi companies, Nihon Kotsu has a very special Toyota Crown taxi running around with throwback livery that, coincidentally, is the same livery used around the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Basically, this special throwback livery will get to see use during two Olympic eras.
Check out the tweets showcasing this special Taxi below.
7/30
たまたま街なかで見かけた日本交通の復刻塗装車。
昨年の創業90周年を記念して運行している車両で約1500台ものタクシーを保有する同社では1台もののようですね。
この旧東京四社カラーは東京五輪当時のカラーで来年の五輪のときも走っているのはなんだか感慨深いです… pic.twitter.com/KudhUUcqNe— みむヒュー (@Ibakyu8623) July 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/toyoko_ltdexp/status/1031137107459203072
Apparently, Nihon Kotsu is one of the largest Taxi companies in Japan with over 4,000 Taxis operating just around Tokyo. Since 2018 marked 90 years in service, a special one-off Toyota Crown was commissioned and put into service with, as mentioned, the iconic Orange and Yellow livery you see above.
According to Nihon Kotsu, their current livery still uses the Crown, largely unchanged since they were first introduced in 1995. Most of their cars are black, but not this one.
As you probably already know, Tokyo hosts the Olympics next year. I wonder how many people who use Taxis from Nihon Kotsu will notice the significance of this particular livery, probably not many.
So, if you’re in Tokyo next year during the Olympics or if you’re in Japan, keep your eyes open for this one-off Taxi. In the sea of black taxi’s, it’ll stick out like a sore thumb.
