Waymo and Tokyo Partners Target Japan’s First Driverless Taxi Service in 2027

Tekedra Mawakana told reporters that Waymo “provides more than 500,000 rides per week and has been proven to be more than 15 times safer than human drivers.” She was speaking as GO, Waymo, and Nihon Kotsu announced a strategic partnership to launch Japan’s first fully driverless commercial taxi service, targeting 2027. The Tuesday press conference marked the public commitment to carry Waymo’s model into Tokyo as a taxi service open to general passengers.

The Alphabet-owned company she co-leads traces its work to Google’s self-driving project, which began in January 2009 and was spun out and renamed Waymo in December 2016. Mawakana has served as co-CEO since April 2021, sharing the role with Dmitri Dolgov. By the time of the Tokyo announcement, Waymo had already become the first company to offer a public robotaxi service without safety drivers, a step it took in October 2020, and had built commercial operations across U.S. metropolitan areas.

GO, Japan’s taxi-hailing app operator, and Nihon Kotsu, a major domestic taxi firm, joined Waymo in the announcement. The three companies said they aimed to commercialize fully driverless taxis in Tokyo on Level 4 autonomous driving technology, in which the system handles all driving operations under specific conditions. They planned a fleet of approximately 100 autonomous taxis for the city, hailable through both the GO app and the Waymo app, starting with a smaller number of vehicles and expanding in phases.

GO would handle service design and the work of integrating the technology into Japan’s taxi industry, including coordination with local operators. Waymo would provide the autonomous driving system, operational infrastructure, and vehicle management. Nihon Kotsu would oversee day-to-day operations, depot operations, and user support. GO President and CEO Hiroshi Nakajima said the company would help integrate Waymo’s technology into the industry and make the rides available through the GO app. “We will work to launch a full-scale commercial service,” he said.

How the three companies reached that agreement had begun three years earlier, with one ride. Ichiro Kawanabe, chairman of GO and also chairman of the National Hire-Taxi Federation, first rode in a Waymo vehicle three years earlier. By his account, that ride sparked the collaboration. He immediately lobbied for a Japan expansion while Waymo still limited its operations to the United States. After repeated negotiations, the three companies agreed in December 2024 to cooperate on self-driving technology, opening the way for Waymo’s first public-road operations outside the United States. Kawanabe said “the main act has finally arrived.” He also recounted a conversation with Transport Minister Yasuyuki Kaneko. “Kawanabe-san, let’s move quickly on this,” the minister had told him.

From December 2024 the partners turned to Tokyo’s public roads. Testing has been under way since 2025 across seven wards: Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinagawa, and Koto. The vehicles are Jaguar I-PACE models equipped with Waymo’s self-driving system. Nihon Kotsu drivers ride aboard as safety operators and autonomous specialists while the technology is adapted to the city’s streets. Those specialists complete Nihon Kotsu’s own driver training, then classroom and in-car sessions with Waymo, pass driving tests, and take a defensive-driving course so they can monitor the system on public roads. The vehicles operate both autonomously and under manual control during the runs. At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, attendees examined a Jaguar I-Pace fitted with the same system; in Tokyo the supervised tests have continued as the companies gather experience and refine the stack under real traffic, moving from data collection toward service that will eventually carry general passengers.

Taiji Wakabayashi, president of Nihon Kotsu, said the company’s commitment to providing “safe, reliable and comfortable” transportation would not change in the era of autonomous driving. The partnership, he said, would “complement the future shortage of drivers” while coexisting with manned taxis. Japan’s taxi industry is grappling with an aging workforce and severe labor shortages nationwide, pressures compounded by the country’s population decline. The companies said the service could help address both. Kawanabe positioned driverless taxis as a solution to the shortage and said “accidents will decrease dramatically.”

As of June 2026, Waymo operated public commercial robotaxi services in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas—15 cities according to one account—with 3,871 robotaxis in service. The company had logged 200 million fully autonomous miles. In February 2026 it raised $16 billion, valuing the company at $126 billion. Nissan Motor and Uber Technologies said earlier in 2026 that they would cooperate on a robotaxi project, with trial operations in Tokyo planned for late in the year.

The official launch date remains unset. The three companies will decide a specific date for commercial service only after safety is verified and the required permits and licenses are obtained under the Road Traffic Act and the Road Transportation Act, contingent on approvals from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Police Agency, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and individual wards, and on ongoing validation of Waymo’s technology and operating model for Tokyo. The partners have kept the 2027 commercialization target while prioritizing those conditions, planning to start with a small fleet and scale up in stages once clearances and validation are complete.

“From day one, this will be an unmanned service for the public,” Mawakana told reporters at the joint press conference in Tokyo.