Tokyo’s old school taxis are rapidly disappearing from the city’s streets, with better equipped but much blander looking London cab-like vehicles taking their place.
Those dated designs were really quite something though, and the colours incredibly iconic. Elements that are now even more apparent as they fade from daily life, and something I felt strongly when discovering this photo the other day. It’s one I took a while ago, but for some reason hadn’t edited. So here it is now in all its green glory, along with a couple of previously posted takes on the orange variant.
Denise says
These are such striking colors. I love #3! 🙂
Lee says
Yeah, they really are. Such a shame they are disappearing.
Thanks a lot. Waited a while for that one, but very glad I did.
cdilla says
What an extraordinary photograph. Aside from the perfect primary and secondary colour match the slight incline of the bridge gutter matches that of the white stripe. Since my first visit to Tokyo I’ve loved the colourful taxis and looked out for die cast models with their liveries, but to no avail. It has been noticeable how they have been replaced and in some cases unforgivably over painted with crass branding text and logos. Companies these days have no class.
Lee says
Thanks a lot. Yeah, that all came together remarkably well. No waiting required either. It was all just there. Albeit it briefly.
Yes, even the remaining ones aren’t the same with the added branding. Have to head out of the city now to see them in all their glory, but presumably those ones will go the same way as well. Just at a slower pace.
Richard says
Was it serendipity that the green bridge matched the green taxi perfectly?!? I hope someone will preserve some of these old taxis for a future museum exhibition, etc. Remember how the driver could open and close the passenger door? That shocked me the first few times I rode in one of them! It was also amazing how well they could navigate around Tokyo way before there was GPS, etc. Their knowledge of Tokyo streets and neighborhoods was very impressive!
Lee says
It was. Just happened to be walking past and it was there, waiting at the lights. All set up absolutely perfectly.
Yes, the automatic door still impresses me to this day. A very nice little touch.
Tal Danan says
Fantastic as always
Lee says
Thank you very much. Just wish I had more of these…