The Untold Truth of Chinese Unlicensed Taxi Drivers And How They’re Earning Big Despite Loopholes

To the police officers, “Thanks for your hard work as always~”

A police car with its red lights flashing approached the third terminal of Haneda Airport late at night. Pulling up alongside a line of cars waiting for passengers arriving on international flights, the officers began questioning each driver one by one. This was a crackdown on illegal taxi operations—so-called white taxis—where drivers operate without a commercial license using private vehicles.

However, Mr. X, a white taxi driver waiting to pick up a reserved passenger arriving from Tianjin, China, calmly enjoyed playing a smartphone game in the driver’s seat.

Now in his eighth year in Japan, Mr. X has sharp eyes but often smiles and gives off a friendly vibe. He runs a Chinese restaurant and started white taxi driving as a side job in 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic. He now boasts that he earns an average monthly income of 400,000 yen from white taxi driving alone, and during peak times such as the Lunar New Year or National Day, his income can exceed 1 million yen in a single month.

On this day, the author was interviewing Mr. X about the white taxi scene in Tokyo when a customer’s reservation came in. The author accompanied Mr. X for the pickup. They rode together in Mr. X’s Hiace to Haneda, and after the passenger got off, the scene described above unfolded.

When it was Mr. X’s turn for questioning, the police ordered him to get out of the car. Mr. X opened the doors and trunk himself, preparing for a vehicle inspection.

It seemed Mr. X’s luck had run out—yet, after shining their flashlights briefly inside the car, the officers simply saluted Mr. X and moved on to the next vehicle.

To the backs of the officers walking away, Mr. X quipped lightly, “Thanks for your hard work as always~.”

“They’re always doing these checks, but it’s just for show. If I say I’m picking up a friend, they can’t do anything else. The regulations are full of holes,” Mr. X told the author before picking up his reserved passenger and driving away.

Aggressive illegal operations

Left behind at the terminal, I asked the police officer who had finished questioning drivers, “Why don’t you arrest them even though it’s clearly illegal taxi service?”

The officer sighed with frustration and lamented, “To make an arrest, we have to prove that they transported passengers for money. That means we need to tail the car, catch them dropping off a passenger, and get the passenger to testify that they paid money. We just can’t do it alone.”

It’s not only illegal taxis using social media to get customers that threaten the revenue of licensed taxi and hire car companies. Inside the airport terminal, a more malicious form of customer poaching by illegal taxi drivers was also unfolding.

On the second floor of Terminal 3, where flights from North America arrive in the evening, men speaking Chinese stood watching the arrival gates, dressed in white shirts and slacks.

They stood spaced apart but occasionally exchanged brief words in Mandarin.

Each man held a small sign with names like “Welcome Mr. LEE,” making them look like hotel drivers waiting for reserved guests. However, oddly enough, they never actually showed these signs. Instead, they approached foreign passengers coming out of the arrival gates, calling out “Taxi?” to every one of them, and used translation apps on their phones to negotiate.

Right before my eyes, one of these men in a white shirt completed a deal with a Western couple. The fare he quoted via translation app was 10,000 yen to Ginza—about 30% more expensive than a licensed taxi fare.

The man carried the couple’s suitcases and led them outside the terminal, bypassing the designated pick-up/drop-off zone, moving further away.

Along the way, the couple asked suspiciously, “Where are we going?” but having already handed over their luggage, they had no choice but to follow.

The destination was a large white-walled van parked illegally at the very front of the terminal.

Several large vans were parked nearby, with both white license plates and green plates (for licensed transportation businesses) mixed among them. What caught my eye was that no driver was inside the van. Nearby stood a man, apparently part of the white-shirt group, who seemed to be watching over the van to prevent parking violations and fines while the driver was away soliciting customers.

When I asked Tokyo International Airport Terminal Corporation about the legality of soliciting passengers inside the airport, they replied, “Soliciting passengers by taxis, hire cars, and similar vehicles is prohibited inside the terminal and on airport grounds.”

Regardless of whether the vehicle is an illegal taxi or has a green license plate, solicitation itself is banned. Since illegal taxi activity violates the Road Transport Act, this issue is not just a matter of morality.

Until now, illegal Chinese taxis gathered Chinese customers through social media. If their brazen, improper solicitation targets all foreign visitors, the resulting loss of opportunity for legitimate drivers is enormous.

Moreover, if scams, overcharging, or traffic accidents caused by illegal taxi drivers increase, it will directly damage Japan’s international image.

Are we to simply let this situation, where visiting tourists are being exploited, continue unchecked?

From the June 20, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”