Taxis

Taxis in Osaka: what the meter charges

Osaka's taxi fares went up on 5 November 2025. The figures below are the Kinki District Transport Bureau's range: each company files its fare inside it, so two taxis can differ a little. Guides written before then give 1.3 km and 260 m; both changed.

The meter in Osaka City

First 1.2 km

560 to 600 yen

Then

100 yen every 231 to 248 m

In slow traffic

Below a set speed, 10 km/h at most, time counts instead: 100 yen every 1 min 25 s to 1 min 30 s

Shorter start

Some taxis start at 460 to 500 yen for the first 0.952 to 0.969 km, with the same 100-yen steps after

A standard car, in the Osaka City area (大阪市域交通圏). The bureau's 2025 release gives the same standard-car range across the rest of Osaka Prefecture, which takes in Kansai Airport, and the Itami airport area is in the same fare region. Kinki District Transport Bureau

Late at night

From 22:00 to 5:00 the fare is 20% more, as a rule. The meter does it by shortening the distance each 100-yen step covers, so it ticks over sooner. Kinki District Transport Bureau

Bigger cars

Large car

580 to 620 yen for the first 1.2 km, then 100 yen every 200 to 239 m

Specially large car

600 to 650 yen for the first 1.2 km, then 100 yen every 181 to 231 m

Other fares and charges

What the bureau's rules allow. Each company decides which of these it uses and how much.

Waiting

If you ask the car to wait, waiting is charged at the meter's 100-yen step.

Calling a taxi to you

A pick-up fee can apply. Each company sets it, as a flat fee, free up to a distance, or by demand, and the rules say it must be shown to you beforehand.

Fixed fares

A company can set a fixed fare, agreed before the ride, between an airport, a station or a big venue and a set area.

Fares fixed in an app

Booked through a ride app, the fare can be set before you get in, from the app's estimate of the distance, if you ask for or accept it.

Long-distance discounts

A company may discount the part of a fare above a set amount. Whether a taxi does is up to its company.

Licensed taxis and ride-share

A licensed taxi has a green number plate; private cars have white or yellow ones. Some taxis carry a special-design white plate with a green border, and those are licensed too. Kinki District Transport Bureau, Osaka Prefectural Police and Kansai Airports, December 2017

Since 2024 Japan has let taxi companies run private cars with ordinary drivers where and when taxis are short: Japan's ride-share (自家用車活用事業). The Osaka City area is one where the regional transport bureau sets those days and times from ride-app data. The cars have private plates, but the ride is the taxi company's: you book it through an app or by phone and agree to a ride-share car, the fare is fixed before you ride, payment is cashless in principle, and they do not pick up on the street or wait at taxi stands. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

A private car offering you a paid ride any other way, at the airport or on the street, is an illegal white taxi (白タク). The leaflet warns that you may be questioned by the police, and that if you are hurt you may get no insurance cover. The leaflet (PDF)

Sources

出典：近畿運輸局「大阪地区のタクシー運賃改定について」「一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業の公定幅運賃の範囲の指定について」「一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業の自動認可運賃について」「一般乗用旅客自動車運送事業の運賃及び料金に関する制度について」、国土交通省「日本版ライドシェア（自家用車活用事業）について」（東北運輸局）「自家用車活用事業における曜日・時間帯及び不足車両数の設定等について」を加工して作成 (PDL1.0). Read 2026-10-04. DealOsaka took the standard, large and specially large car rows and the rules above from the notices and translated them; the Japanese era dates were converted by hand.