Waymo Plans Tokyo’s First Fully Driverless Taxi Service With Japanese Partners in 2027

Picture Tokyo’s dense urban streets — Shinjuku, Shibuya, Minato — with taxis carrying passengers but no one behind the wheel. That’s exactly what Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit Waymo is planning, and it’s now one step closer to reality.

Waymo has announced a formal agreement with Nihon Kotsu, one of Tokyo’s largest taxi operators, and GO, Japan’s leading taxi-hailing app, to begin commercial fully autonomous ride-hailing in Tokyo in 2027. The announcement came via Waymo’s official channels, including a social media post in Japanese confirming all three companies have signed the agreement and are targeting a commercial launch of driverless taxis in the Japanese capital.

This is Waymo’s first major international expansion of its robotaxi services beyond the United States, where the company already operates fully driverless vehicles across several major cities. Waymo says it has completed tens of millions of commercial fully autonomous trips in the US — a track record it’s now bringing to one of the world’s most complex urban road environments.

How the Rollout Will Work

The plan is deliberately cautious. It begins with a testing phase in which Nihon Kotsu crew members sit behind the wheel while Waymo’s system learns Tokyo’s roads — covering wards including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinagawa and Koto. Only once those tests satisfy Japanese regulators will the service transition to fully driverless operation, with no human on board.

From there, the fleet looks set to grow gradually to around 100 autonomous vehicles, though that expansion depends on safety performance and regulatory approval at each stage. Nothing is automatic here — every step requires sign-off.

When the service does go live for the public, passengers will be able to book rides through either the Waymo app or the GO app, sitting alongside conventional taxis in GO’s existing platform. The idea is that you’d barely notice the difference in how you book — only in what turns up.

The technology underpinning it all is classified as Level 4 autonomous driving under Japan’s regulatory framework. That means the system handles every aspect of driving under defined conditions, with no human driver needed on board. It’s a legal and technical threshold Japan has been building towards, with its national government and Tokyo metropolitan authorities progressively updating rules to allow exactly this kind of deployment.

Japan’s Regulatory Backdrop

Japan hasn’t arrived at this point overnight. The government has been steadily updating its legal framework for automated vehicles, creating pathways for Level 4 operations in designated areas. Part of the motivation is practical: Japan faces real labour shortages in transport, and autonomous vehicles are seen by officials as one way to keep people moving without depending on a shrinking pool of professional drivers.

That policy environment matters. Without it, no amount of technology would get Waymo’s vehicles onto Tokyo’s streets commercially.

What the Companies Are Saying

Waymo frames the Tokyo launch as a logical extension of what it’s already doing in the US, pointing to its safety record and accumulated autonomous miles as evidence the technology is ready. Nihon Kotsu and GO, for their part, emphasise integration — the aim is to offer customers both conventional and autonomous rides through a single app, rather than creating a separate, unfamiliar service.

Koji Aoki, President of Nihon Kotsu, said: “We are committed to working with Waymo and GO to bring safe, convenient autonomous taxi services to Tokyo, building on our deep knowledge of the city’s roads and our long relationship with passengers.”

The companies describe the planned service as Japan’s first fully autonomous commercial taxi service. That framing is subject to what happens between now and 2027 — regulatory timelines have a habit of shifting — but the formal agreement marks a clear move from exploration to genuine commercial intent.

Concerns and Caution

Not everyone is ready to wave the driverless taxis through. Critics raise questions about safety in Tokyo’s dense, unpredictable traffic, liability in the event of an accident, and cybersecurity. Trade unions and driver groups have flagged concerns about what large-scale autonomous fleets could mean for taxi drivers’ livelihoods, even if companies like Nihon Kotsu suggest staff could move into supervisory and fleet management roles rather than simply losing jobs.

Public scepticism is real too. Sharing a road — let alone a vehicle — with a fully driverless car is still a significant mental adjustment for many people, and trust tends to build slowly.

Japan’s regulators are expected to require transparent safety data and clear liability frameworks before granting full operational approval. The phased rollout is, in part, a response to exactly those concerns.

What Happens Next

The immediate next step is road testing in Tokyo with crew members present, building the data and regulatory confidence needed to move towards driverless operation. A commercial public launch is targeted for 2027, with fleet expansion to around 100 vehicles to follow — all subject to how testing goes and how quickly approvals come through.

On top of that, the world will be watching. A successful Tokyo deployment would represent the first time Waymo’s robotaxis have operated commercially outside the United States, in one of the planet’s most demanding urban environments.

What This Means for Kent Residents

There’s no direct impact on Kent from this announcement — this is a Tokyo project, shaped by Japanese regulators and Japanese roads. But UK policymakers, including those at the Department for Transport who shape the rules governing autonomous vehicle trials across England, are likely to monitor the Tokyo rollout closely, and the safety data it generates could inform future decisions about driverless vehicles on UK roads. Kent residents travelling to Tokyo from 2027 may also find themselves able to book a fully autonomous taxi via the Waymo or GO app — one of the more unusual travel experiences likely to be available in a major city in the next few years.