Skip to main content

DiDi and SoftBank to offer taxi-hailing service in Japan

China-based DiDi Chuxing will deploy its ride-matching app in Japan in partnership with investor SoftBank. The joint venture, DiDi Mobility Japan, intends to offer on-demand services and smart transportation to citizens and tourists in the autumn. Stephen Zhu, vice president of Didi Chuxing and CEO of DiDi Mobility Japan, says the new platform is intended to help taxi companies improve their efficiency, enhance user satisfaction and build more broad-based demand for taxi services. Through the agree
July 20, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
China-based DiDi Chuxing will deploy its ride-matching app in Japan in partnership with investor SoftBank. The joint venture, DiDi Mobility Japan, intends to offer on-demand services and smart transportation to citizens and tourists in the autumn.  


Stephen Zhu, vice president of Didi Chuxing and CEO of DiDi Mobility Japan, says the new platform is intended to help taxi companies improve their efficiency, enhance user satisfaction and build more broad-based demand for taxi services.

Through the agreement, DiDi will deliver its artificial intelligence-based transportation platform with SoftBank’s business base and advanced network infrastructure.

Additionally, the DiDi Greater China app will include new roaming features such as real-time in-app Chinese-Japanese instant message translation and local language customer support. Users from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will be able to use the app to hail taxis in their native language.

The trial will be available for riders, drivers and taxi operators in cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Tokyo.

Related Content

  • Aerial ride-sharing coming to South Korea 
    February 16, 2022
    Passengers will be able to access new SK Telecom service via Joby or Uber apps
  • Promoting cycling is the solution to congestion and pollution
    August 20, 2015
    Cycling offers health, air quality and road space/parking benefits, promoting governments and the EU to look at tax and technology initiatives. David Crawford reports. One way to improve urban air quality is to make green alternatives to car use financially attractive. Incentivising employees to switch their travel-to-work mode to using their own bikes could increase cycling’s modal share of commuting travel by 50%, a recent French research project suggests. The country’s government already subsidises pu
  • Innovative transportation award for New York’s MTA BusTime
    February 6, 2013
    Transportation consultants Cambridge Systematics have been presented with the 2012 Innovative Transportation Solution of the Year for MTA Bus Time, New York City’s real-time bus customer information system. The award, presented by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Greater New York Chapter, recognises organisations for their efforts in enhancing the transportation industry in their community through innovation and creativity, and providing value. Cambridge Systematics and partner OpenPlans Transporta
  • Bristol Is Open - NEC partnership aims to develop the open programmable city
    February 10, 2016
    NEC Corporation has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Bristol Is Open, a smart city initiative in the UK and a joint venture between Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol. It aims to create the world’s first open, programmable city to support the creation of innovative new smart services for people, business and academia. It intends to pave the way for improvements in a wide range of services, including traffic congestion, waste management, entertainment, e-democracy, and energy