In the depressed economic conditions Japan has faced over the past decade, taxi companies have served as a last-ditch source of jobs for salarymen who were down on their luck. The work typically involves long hours, low pay and the stress of increasingly heated competition for shrinking fares.
One of the few fringe benefits cabbies enjoy is the opportunity to share an enclosed space together with a woman. And sometimes, a driver can even get lucky. . .
Another urban legend? Not according to Shukan Taishu (May 30), which sent its reporters out to ask drivers, "While on the job, have you ever had the experience of being invited to have sex with a female passenger." Out of 50 cabbies questioned, 18 grinned and gave nods in the affirmative. And several were more than happy to talk on the record, with their names, of course, changed to protect the guilty.
"'If you drive me home, I'll do something v-e-r-y nice to you,' was how she put it," relates Yoichiro Takakura, age 39. "That was the second time that had happened to me."
The woman, Takakura relates, appeared to be in her early 20s. He picked her up north of Shinjuku around 4 a.m. and she asked to be driven to Nishi Ogikubo.
"On the way, she's begun muttering 'Oh no!' to herself from the back seat. At first I thought she had forgotten something, but I realized she didn't have any money.
"'Driver,' she told me, 'I'm afraid I spent all the money I had at a host club. But I'll tell you what; you can come to the massage parlor where I work and I'll make sure you get a freebie. What do you say?'"
"She also insisted there was no money in her apartment. I realized I was going to get stuck with the fare out of my own pocket, but she was really cute, so anyway ..."
"I parked alongside the elevated train tracks and she moved up front anbegan sucking me off. She really knew what she was doing and I barely lasted two minutes before I shot off in her mouth."