nntsuzu/KFTT huggingface dataset:
English: Some people point out the deterioration of public security, but even if someone falls asleep on a subway in Japan, he/she is unlikely to stumble into crime, and even at night, a woman can take a train alone in peace, which is worthy of special mention from a world perspective.
Japanese: 治安の悪化を指摘する声もあるものの、日本では地下鉄の車内で乗客が居眠りをしても犯罪に逢うおそれが小さく、また深夜でも女性が安心して1人で鉄道を利用でき、これは世界的にみれば特筆すべきことである。
English: In addition, while there are quite a few countries in which graffiti on the trains and trains with damages to property (vandalism) can be seen, these cases are very rare in Japan and railway cars are generally respected as a public property and thus kept clean.
Japanese: また鉄道車両への落書き、器物破損（ヴァンダリズム）により荒廃した列車が見られる国は多いものの、現在の日本ではこのようなことは珍しく、一般に鉄道車両は公共物として尊重され、清潔な状態が保たれている。
English: This section, "Taxis in Japan" describes the conditions and situations of taxis in Japan.
Japanese: 日本のタクシー（にっぽんのタクシー）では、日本におけるタクシーについての事情などについて記述する。
English: Operators of taxi business in Japan are categorized as 'Common taxicab operators' in the Road Transportation Act.
Japanese: 日本においてタクシー事業は、道路運送法上の「一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業」である。
English: Number 1 of Article 3: "General Passenger Vehicle Transportation Business" (Passenger Vehicle Transportation Business other than Specific Vehicle Transportation Business)
Japanese: 第3条第1号「一般旅客自動車運送事業（特定旅客自動車運送事業以外の旅客自動車運送事業）」
English: (3) Common taxicab operators (General Passenger Vehicle Transportation Business in which a vehicle with a carrying capacity of 10 or less passengers is chartered to transport the passengers for one contract)
Japanese: （ハ）一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業（一個の契約により乗車定員10人以下の自動車を貸し切つて旅客を運送する一般旅客自動車運送事業）
English: Vehicle is attached with a license plate (Japan) whose number starts from either 3 or 5, which is painted in white against a green background, indicating a business-purpose vehicle.
Japanese: 事業用自動車を示す緑地に白字、3ナンバー又は5ナンバーのナンバープレート(日本)がつけられる。
English: Taxis operated with private cars without permission, license, or qualification are called "Shiro-taku" (literally, white taxi, meaning unlicensed taxis) and are illegal.
Japanese: 自家用自動車を用いて無資格で営業しているものは白タクと呼ばれ、違法である。
English: This name comes from the fact that license plates of these types of taxis are painted green against a white background, while those of legal taxis are different.
Japanese: この呼び方はナンバープレートの色が事業用車のそれに対して白地緑文字であることに由来する。
English: In addition, operators of taxi business are subject to the Act on Special Measures concerning Regulation of Taxi Services, the Passenger Vehicle Transportation Business Law, the Common Taxicab Operators Standard Transportation Clause, etc.
Japanese: この他、タクシー業務適正化特別措置法、旅客自動車運送事業運輸規則、一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業標準運送約款などの法令の適用を受ける。
English: In Japan, Taxi Jidosha Kabushikigaisha was established in Yuraku-cho, Tokyo City on July 10, 1912, and its passenger transport operations started on August 5 in front of the head office using six Ford Model Ts.
Japanese: 日本では1912年7月10日、東京市有楽町にタクシー自働車株式会社が設立され、8月5日から本社前でフォード・モデルTを6台使用して旅客営業を開始した。
English: These taxis were equipped with a taximeter and called 'Tsuji-machi jidosha' (vehicle waiting to be hired), which were based in Ueno and Shimbashi Stations.
Japanese: このタクシーはタクシーメーターを搭載して「辻待ち自動車」と呼ばれており、上野駅と新橋駅を拠点に営業していた。
English: After that, as Tokyo Station started in practice in 1914, the company also began servicing Tokyo Station.
Japanese: その後、1914年には東京駅が開業したことにより、同社によって東京駅でも営業が行われるようになった。
English: In the 1960's, with the development of motorization, Kamikaze taxis (taxis whose drivers drove recklessly) became a social issue.
Japanese: 1960年代にはモータリゼーションの発達により、「神風タクシー」が問題となる。
English: Part of the Road Transportation Act and the Act on Temporary Measures concerning the Regulation of Taxi Services were revised to come to effect on February 1, 2002, and accordingly, the system of the business was switched from the licensing system to the approval system, allowing operators of the business to freely conduct business only by reporting increases and decreases in vehicles (so-called 'relaxation of the taxi regulations' means the revision of these acts).
Japanese: 2002年2月1日に道路運送法・タクシー業務適正化臨時措置法の一部が改正施行され、事業はこれまでの免許制から許可制とし、事業者の車両数増減も届出のみで自由に可能になった（いわゆる「タクシー規制緩和」とはこれらの法改正を指す）。
English: Since this relaxation of the taxi regulations, while the number of new taxi operators has been increasing in large cities, the existing small- and mid-sized operators, regardless whether in large cities or in rural areas, have been in a business slump suffering difficult management because of the decrease in customers due to dissemination of private cars, improvement and expansion of the public transportation net, and change in the social environment, as well as the nature of the business itself that cannot increase the income and decrease the expenses.
Japanese: これにより大都市では新規参入事業者が増加している反面、既存の中小事業者は地方・大都市の別を問わず、マイカーの普及や公共交通網の拡充、社会事情の変化などによる乗客の減少に加え、業務の性質そのものが収入を増やせず支出を減らせないため、構造的な業績不良に陥り、経営の苦しいところが多い。
English: In addition, the fact that heavy burdens are placed on the drivers to build up sales has been seen as a problem.
Japanese: また、売り上げを上げるため労働者に過大な負担がかかるようになってきていることも問題視されている。
English: August 15, 1912: The first taxi operations started in front of Ueno and Shimbashi Stations in Tokyo City.
Japanese: 1912年（大正元年）8月15日東京市の上野駅前・新橋駅前で営業開始。
English: In Osaka, on June 27, 1924 and in Tokyo, on June 10, in 1926: A type of taxis appeared that were available with a flat fare of one yen in the city (so-called 'En-taku').
Japanese: 1924年（大正13）年6月27日大阪、1926（大正15）年6月10日東京で、市内1円均一タクシー（通称円タク）が登場。
English: Up to around 1945: Many companies were integrated throughout the nation under the encouragement of the government.
Japanese: 1945年（昭和20年）迄の間、全国各地で政府勧奨による企業統合が行われる。
English: December 3, 1959: Operations of privately owned taxis were licensed in Tokyo's wards and the first licenses was issued to 173 people.
Japanese: 1959年12月3日東京都区部で個人タクシー営業が許可され173人に初免許交付。
English: As more and more areas issued licenses to operators of privately owned taxis, for example, in Osaka on January 15 and in Nagoya on March 1, in 1960, operations of privately owned taxis made a comeback.
Japanese: 1960年1月15日には大阪市、同3月1日名古屋市へと全国に免許区域拡大する等個人タクシー復活。
English: 1969: The Tokyo taxi modernization center (which manages the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Musashino City, and Mitaka City) and Osaka taxi modernization center (which manages Osaka City, Kadoma City, Moriguchi City, Toyonaka City, Suita City, Ibaraki City, Takatsuki City, Sakai City, Izumi City, and some other areas) were established.
Japanese: 1969年財団法人東京タクシー近代化センター（東京都23特別区と武蔵野市、三鷹市を管理）と財団法人大阪タクシー近代化センター（大阪市、門真市、守口市、豊中市、吹田市、茨木市、高槻市、堺市、和泉市などを管理）が開設。
English: 2002: The Tokyo taxi modernization center and the Osaka taxi modernization center changed their names to 'Tokyo taxi center' and 'Osaka taxi center' respectively.
Japanese: 2002年東京タクシー近代化センターが「東京タクシーセンター」に、大阪タクシー近代化センターが「大阪タクシーセンター」に改称。
English: 2008: A taxi stand exclusively for excellent taxis (which have had no complaints for past 10 years and whose drivers have had no accidents and traffic violations for past 3 years) was set up in front of Shimbashi Station in Tokyo.
Japanese: 2008年東京新橋駅前にて、優良タクシー（10年間クレームなし・過去3年無事故無違反）の専用乗り場が設置される。
English: One of the advantages of a taxi is its capability to 'carry passengers from the entrance of the point of departure to the entrance of the destination.'
Japanese: タクシーの利点の一つが「旅客をドアtoドアで輸送できる」という点である。
English: In recent years, taking advantages of this feature, the number of taxi companies that aim at people whose transportation is constrained, such as disabled people and elderly people, has been increasing.
Japanese: 昨今この利点を活かして、身体障害者や高齢者など、移動に大きな制約を伴う人々を対象にするタクシー事業者が増加した。
English: Of those companies, there are some operators who make their drivers obtain public qualifications of care attendant and/or obtain lifesaving certification.
Japanese: 中には、運転手にホームヘルパー、救命講習などの公的資格を取得させている事業者もある。
English: Some of the taxis that can carry wheelchairs are registered as a special-purpose vehicles having a license plate whose number starts from 8.
Japanese: 車椅子を積載できるタクシーには8ナンバーの特種用途自動車の登録となっているものもある。
English: More and more nursing-care companies (especially companies with care attendants who visit customers' houses to take care of the patients or Itaku nursing-care service companies), whose main business is not taxi operations, are now getting a license for Common taxicab operators (limited to carry only patients or the like) for the purpose of taking the users of nursing-care services to a hospital or some other places ('Elder-care taxi').
Japanese: 本業がタクシーではない介護事業者（特に訪問介護・居宅介護事業者）が、介護サービスの利用者を病院などへ移送することを目的に、一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業（患者等輸送限定）という種別の許可を受けることも多くなってきている（「介護タクシー」）。
English: Of these types, services to which the nursing-care insurance and the Assistance Benefit Supply System are not applied are called Care transportation service, while services to which those are applied are called Nursing-care transportation service (assistance of getting in-out the taxi when going to a hospital, etc.), with a difference in the fare collection system.
Japanese: このうち、介護保険や支援費制度を適用しない場合をケア輸送サービス、適用する場合（通院等乗降介助）を介護輸送サービスといい、運賃の収受方法に差がある。
English: There are some companies that provide services of fare-paying conveyance of passengers without a Class II driver license, but with the permission of the motor vehicle official by interpreting the Article 80 of the Road Transportation Act beyond the realm of its original scope, which is so-called 'Article 80 authorized vehicle' (see abolished substitution bus Article 80 bus); however, many ordinary taxi operators have broken the force of an objection to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism saying that what those companies are doing is a Shiro-taku operation, which has somehow reached an understanding between these two types of companies through negotiations with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Japanese: 道路運送法第80条を拡大解釈し、普通二種運転免許を持たずとも陸運局の認可を受ければ旅客を有償運送できる、いわゆる「80条許可車両」（詳細は廃止代替バス80条バス参照）があるが、タクシー業界から「完全な白タクではないか」との強い異議が国土交通省に寄せられ、厚生労働省との折衝で現時点ではなんとか折り合いがつけられている状態である。
English: Taxis run around everywhere in the area 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with radio communication means.
Japanese: タクシーには「24時間365日、地域内のあらゆる場所を走行し、無線により連絡手段を確保している」という特性がある。
English: There are some areas where taxis can communicate with police radio by taking advantages of these characteristics (if a criminal may be running away in a taxi after the fact, a message about the fugitive criminal is sent in code to all taxis over the radio).
Japanese: この特性を活かして、非常時には警察無線とも連絡を取り合う体制を築いている地域もある（犯人が犯行後タクシーを使用して逃走した疑いがある場合は暗号による一斉手配が無線で流れる）。
English: There have been many cases where taxi companies also offer replacement driver services since long ago in local regions; however, due to diversification of the taxi business as well as the law revision in 2004, in which only persons who have Class II driver license can carry out replacement driver services as taxi operations (the law itself became effective in 2002, but mandatory operation with Class II driver license was actually started two years later), taxi companies that have started offering replacement driver services have been increasing more and more.
Japanese: タクシー事業者が運転代行業を兼業する例は古くから地方で数多く存在するが、タクシー事業の多角化に加えて、2004年の法改正によりタクシー同様第二種運転免許を取得した者でなければ代行運転に従事できなくなった（法律自体は2002年に施行されたが、二種免許義務化は2年間の猶予期間が設けられていた）ため、運転代行業に参入するタクシー事業者がさらに急増している。
English: There are some taxi companies that take on transportation of not only people but small items for a short distance, such as maintenance parts and data media for computers.
Japanese: 人ではなく、コンピュータなどの保守用部品、データメディアなど、近距離の小物の輸送を引き受けているタクシー事業者もある。
English: (This is a similar service that motorbike messengers and the United Association of Japan Light Motor Vehicle Porters provide; however, taxis are supposed to offer services to carry passengers so, carrying freight by taxi violates the Road Transportation Act.)
Japanese: （バイク便、あるいは全国赤帽軽自動車運送協同組合連合会などと似た使い方であるが、タクシーは旅客運送事業であり、貨物運送事業を行うことは道路運送法上違法である）
English: In addition to the above, there are various kinds of unique services including shopping for daily necessities on behalf of customers and driving small children to their kindergartens or elementary schools, indicating that taxi operators are diversifying their businesses into different directions depending on the area and the company.
Japanese: 以上のほかにも、日用品の買い物代行や、子供の幼稚園や小学校への送迎など、様々な種類のユニークな事業があり、最近では同じタクシー事業といえども地域や事業者により、多角化の方向を示しているといえる。
English: Users are supposed to stand in a queue at taxi stand which is set up at stations, airports, ports, department stores, tourism destinations, downtown areas, hospitals, and some other places.
Japanese: 鉄道駅、空港、港、百貨店、観光地、繁華街、病院などにはタクシー乗り場が設けられており、順番に並んで乗車する。
English: However, which taxi to take is basically up to the customer and thus a customer may deny taking the taxi at the head of the taxi queue even if the customer is told to take the taxi at the head.
Japanese: ただしタクシー車両を選ぶのは基本的に客の自由であり、「先頭の車両にお乗りください。」と注意すると乗車拒否扱いされる場合がある。
English: Incidentally, there are some cases where a taxi stand for a specific taxi company is set up.
Japanese: なお一部では、特定の事業者に属するタクシー専用の乗り場がある場合もある。
English: Taxi companies that use a taxi stand may need to pay a usage charge to the facility owner to purchase the right to drive taxis in the facility area.
Japanese: タクシー乗り場には、入構するタクシー事業者がその施設所有者へ施設使用料を支払いタクシーの構内権なる権利を購入している場合がある。
English: Moreover, in urban areas in major cities, a customer should just raise his/her hand to stop and take a (cruising) taxi with an 'vacant car' sign on the dashboard which can be seen from outside through the windshield (customers who want to take a cruising taxi do not have to shout 'taxi!' as often seen in TV dramas; it is meaningless to shout because the taxi driver cannot hear it anyway).
Japanese: また、主要都市の市街地では、フロントガラスから見えるように「空車」のプレートをダッシュボードに掲げて走っている（流し）タクシーに対して手をあげたら停車するので乗車すればよい（なお一部テレビドラマ等で散見されるが、「タクシー！」などと叫ぶ必要はない。そもそも声を上げても運転手には聞こえない）。
English: Because it is harder to see the sign at night, taxis in some areas light up the company logo indicating lamp on the top of the taxi, instead of showing the sign, to show the taxi is available, meaning if the company logo indicating lamp is off, the taxi is occupied.
Japanese: 夜間の場合はプレートが見づらいことから、プレートの代わりに車上の社名表示灯が点灯しているか否かで区別できる地域もある。
English: Recently, most taxis use electronic signs of 'vacant car,' 'Geisha' (taxi which is on the way to a customer to pick him/her up), 'Reserved,' 'Not in service,' 'In service,' 'Extra fare,' 'Pay,' and thus taxis that use non-lighting (non-electronic) signs are decreasing.
Japanese: 最近はほとんどの車両で電光式の「空車」「迎車」「予約車」「回送」「賃走」「割増」「支払」などの表示がされており、プレート表示は減っている。
English: Users can call a taxi company to be picked up at their house or office, but the charge to be picked up is required (however, there are some taxi companies which do not charge this fee).
Japanese: 各家や会社などに電話をして迎えに来てもらうこともできるが、その場合は迎車料金がかかる（無料の場合もある）。
English: In many rural areas, cruising taxis are rare and most services are provided by calling for one over the telephone or taking one at a taxi stand (but if one raises his/her hand as he/she finds a vacant taxi, the taxi is supposed to stop like a cruising taxi does, in urban areas.).
Japanese: 地方においては、流し営業を行わず、ほとんどが呼び出しまたはタクシー乗り場での乗車という地域も多い（しかし、走行しているタクシーが空車であった場合、手を上げれば乗り込めることは都市部と変わらない）。
English: Taxi drivers mechanically open the left back door for customers most of the time (for some taxis, the driver goes to the back door and opens it for the customers) so the passengers do not need to open the door by themselves.
Japanese: タクシーは自動で（一部タクシー会社は乗務員が後方に回り込んで開ける）後方左側のドアを開ける場合が多いので、客は自分で開ける必要はない。
English: The other doors do not open mechanically, so the customers open them when necessary (however, when taxis pick up customers at a taxi stand where they are supposed to turn in a counterclockwise direction, they often open the right back door).
Japanese: 後方左側以外のドアは自動では開かないので客が開ける（ただし、タクシー乗り場によっては左回りの一方通行になっている関係で後方右側から乗り降りする場合もある）。
English: Incidentally, taxis with doors that customers do not need to open themselves can rarely be seen overseas, and thus many foreign tourists visiting Japan are surprised by the automatic door (the information on automatic taxi doors is often introduced in some guide books for foreigners to Japan; in a contrasting situation, Japanese should be careful when they take a taxi in foreign countries because the door does not open automatically).
Japanese: なお、ドアを客があける必要の無いのは日本以外にはほとんどなく、日本を旅する外国人は驚くことが多い（日本旅行向けガイドブックに紹介されていることがある。逆に日本人が外国でタクシーに乗ろうとするときは、ドアは開かないので注意）。
English: Before the taxi starts running, the taxi driver sets (starts) some meters to calculate the fare.
Japanese: 走り出すときに乗務員が運賃メーターをセットする（スタートさせる）ことにより料金計算が始まる。
English: When the passenger have called for the taxi over the telephone or some other means, the basic charge may be already added to the meters.
Japanese: ただし、電話などで呼び出し迎車で進行してきた場合、既に基本料金分のメーターが作動している場合もある。
English: In each case, the fare is accumulated every time the taxi runs a certain distance or a certain time passes (even if the passenger stops and gets out the taxi on the way to the destination, the fare meter keeps counting the time), or based on the combination of the distance and the time, and the current fare is displayed on the meters (described later).
Japanese: いずれの場合も、一定の走行距離か乗車時間（但し途中でタクシーを待たせて車から離れても乗車時間としてカウントされる）、もしくはその双方で運賃は算定（後述）され、同時にメーターに料金が表示される。
English: As the taxi arrives at the destination, the driver stops the fare meter, so the passenger pays the fare according to the meters.
Japanese: 目的地につくと乗務員が運賃メーターを止めるので、そのときに表示された額に従って額を払う。
English: Most taxis have a meter called unit that indicates the amount of payment, other than a basic meter that calculates distance and/or time, so the passenger is supposed to pay the fare based on this meter.
Japanese: 多くの場合、基本となるメーターの他に、ユニットといわれる支払額を示すメーターがついており、これに従って運賃料金を精算する。
English: Unlike the basic meter, this meter shows the actual amount of payment from which discount charges such as discounts for long-distance travel are subtracted or to which extra charges such as a Geisha charges or a reservation charges are added.
Japanese: これは、遠距離割引や迎車料金、予約料金等の、通常のメーター以外の割引や加算をした額を示すものである。
English: In this case, the passenger should just pay the predetermined amount.
Japanese: この場合、メーターによる運賃の収受ではなく、あらかじめ決められた運賃を支払えばよい。
English: If the taxi uses some tollway or toll parking for a purpose of the passenger, for example, sightseeing, the passenger is supposed to pay those charges separately from the taxi fare.
Japanese: なお、有料道路を利用した場合の通行料や、観光で利用するなどの際に有料駐車場を使用したときの駐車料金は、乗客が負担するものなので、メーター額のほかに支払わねばならない。
English: Incidentally, when a taxi is flagged down while the taxi is stopping at a red light, many taxi drivers do not start the meter until the taxi starts running completely after the signal changes to green; however, there is no general rule for this; this simply indicates the drivers' consideration to the passengers or means they want to avoid trouble.
Japanese: なお、信号待ちのときに乗車した場合は、多少車が前進しても、信号が青に代わって本格的に走り出すまではメーターをセットしない乗務員も多いが、そう決まっている訳ではなく、乗務員の心遣いか、トラブル防止といった意味合いによるものである。
English: In addition, when the meter changes and the fare increases immediately before the taxi stops as it arrives at the destination, many taxi drivers charge the fare the meter was showing before the fare increased; however, this also means they want to avoid trouble with the passenger and the driver is responsible for the difference in the amount.
Japanese: また、降車で停車する直前にメーターが変わった場合、変わる前の料金で良いと言う乗務員もいるが、これもトラブル防止の意味合いが多く、また差額は乗務員の自己負担である。
English: However, this violates Article 10 of the Road Transportation Act (prohibition of returning the fare or charge).
Japanese: 但し、道路運送法第10条(運賃又は料金の割戻しの禁止)違反行為である。
English: Cash, tickets, coupons, and credit cards can be used for payment of the fare.
Japanese: 精算方法としては、現金の他、チケット、クーポン、クレジットカードなどがある。
English: However, taxis (companies) that accept tickets, coupons, and/or credit cards are limited, so users should ask the driver whether he/she accepts other than cash.
Japanese: 現金以外の場合は、使えるタクシー（事業者）が限られているので、よく確認して利用すべきである。
English: As special ways to pay the fare, there are some cases where the customer of a taxi takes no means of payment with him/her or only with his/her business card as a ticket and makes a promise to accept the bill from the taxi company later.
Japanese: なお、特殊な利用方法として、後でタクシー会社からの請求に応じる約束で何も持たずに、あるいは名刺などをチケットの代わりとして利用される場合がある。
English: This system, however, is different from general automatic doors because the driver controls the door after checking the passengers' movement and the surroundings.
Japanese: ただし、これは乗務員が客の動作や周囲の状況を確認し操作するものであり、一般的な意味での自動ドアとは違う。
English: In recent years, the number of hydraulic doors, that do not need much human power, has been increasing, but there are still quit a few taxis with a human-powered doors using a wire or similar device, which means that this task for the taxi drivers is surprisingly heavy physical work.
Japanese: 近年では、油圧式で強く腕力を要しないものも増えてきたが、ワイヤーなどで乗務員の人力に頼るものも多く、意外な肉体作業である。
English: Moreover, if the customer shuts the automatic door as he/she gets out of a taxi, the lever system with a wire or a leverage on the driver side moves together along with the door, and the driver might get his/her arm caught by the lever accordingly, and thus operation of the automatic door should be always performed by the driver.
Japanese: また、降車時に客がドアを閉めると、ワイヤー式やてこを利用したレバー式の場合、乗務員側のレバーも連動して動くため、乗務員の腕がレバーに挟まれる場合もあるので、ドアの開閉は乗務員に任せるべきである。
English: The right back door, on the other hand, is often set in the childproof door lock position to prevent of fare dodging.
Japanese: 後方右側のドアは乗り逃げ防止のためチャイルドロックが掛けられていることが多い。
English: Taxi fares used to be the same across all taxi companies in an area in accordance with the "same fare in the same region system," but this system was abolished in 1993.
Japanese: タクシーの運賃はかつて、同一地域同一運賃制度に従い、原則として同じ地域では会社を問わず同じ運賃であったが、1993年にこの制度が廃止されている。
English: At present, each company can freely determine its own fare according to its discretion within a certain range up to a ceiling of the predetermined amount for the area.
Japanese: 現在では、地域ごとに定められた金額を上限とする一定の範囲内であれば、各社の裁量により運賃を自由に決めることができる。
English: For example, as of December 2007, the common Hatsunori fare (minimum taxi fare which is the first amount of charge before charge goes up as the taxi runs a certain distance or a certain time passes) for ordinary taxis in Tokyo's 23 wards is 710 yen, but there are some companies which set their Hatsunori fares to 500 yen.
Japanese: たとえば、2007年12月現在、東京都区部における一般的な普通車初乗り運賃は710円であるが、500円とする会社も見られる。
English: In 1997, a system called "reduction of distance for the Hatsunori fare system" was introduced in some taxi companies.
Japanese: また、1997年には初乗距離短縮運賃制という制度が一部の会社で導入された。
English: This system is to reduce the distance for the Hatsunori fare instead of reducing the amount of Hatsunori fare, which is intended to attract more customers who want to use a taxi for a short distance, but do not want to pay a high Hatsunori fare because unless the taxi runs a certain distance, the fare will not go up.
Japanese: これは、初乗り運賃を安くする代わりに初乗り運賃が適用される距離を短くするというもので、一定距離を走行すると通常の運賃と同額になるが、初乗り運賃の高さから敬遠されがちな短距離利用の促進を狙っている。
English: The taxi company that offers services with the lowest Hatsunori fare in Japan, which is 250 yen, is Minato Kanko taxi in Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
Japanese: 日本で初乗り運賃が一番安いタクシーは、石川県七尾市の港観光タクシーで、250円である。
English: Konpira taxi in Tokushima Prefecture offers services with Hatsunori fare of 260 yen (for a medium-sized car, 280 yen for a full-size car)
Japanese: また、徳島県の金比羅タクシーで初乗り運賃は260円(中型車。大型車は280円)である。
English: Operators of privately owned taxis are often given refunds from tax payments including the consumption tax because the business operator tax exemption point system based on the Consumption Tax Act applies to them (since their sales are less than the prescribed value); therefore, the fare of privately owned taxis is set lower than that of corporate taxis.
Japanese: 個人タクシーでは消費税法に基づく事業者免税点制度が適用されることから（売り上げが規定値以下のため）消費税の納税義務を免除されており、その分、個人タクシー「個人タクシー」と「法人タクシー」よりも運賃が安くなっている。
English: After the relaxation of taxi regulations in 2002, each operator can freely determine the amount of charge to be added.
Japanese: 2002年の規制緩和以降、加算額は事業者が自由に設定できるようになった。
English: In some areas, the system is changing to only the mileage system fare, only when the taxi runs on an Expressway (the charge is not added in the time charge system which is described in the next section).
Japanese: また地域によっては、高速道路に限り、距離制運賃だけの加算（次項に挙げる時間制運賃を適用しない加算）へ切り替えられるようにされている。