Business Uber’s push into Japan runs through Kaga, a rural onsen town

On a winter morning in Kaga, a small hot-springs town in western Japan, Uber's chief executive tested a service that would have been unthinkable there until recently. Since entering Japan in 2014, Uber has struggled to break into a tightly regulated taxi market that long restricted its app to licensed cabs, leaving it at a disadvantage to domestic rivals.


Demographic change is now forcing a rethink. As rural areas lose population and drivers, lawmakers have begun allowing limited peer-to-peer ride-sharing in areas with scarce transportation options. Kaga is one such test case, and Uber began operating there in 2024. The company hopes the town will serve as a model for wider rural expansion, even as Japan remains one of its most difficult markets.

During his drive, Mr Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO) reflected on Uber's decade-long tenure in Japan, describing it as an exercise in persistence. "Our business in Japan is different from anywhere else in the world," he said. "I'm by nature an impatient person, but Japan is forcing me to be patient," he added. "The key here has been compromise."

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Gift article courtesy of JREF: