Show a taxi driver where you are going, in Japanese
Japanese taxi drivers rarely speak English, and the romanised name of a place is often not recognised. Pick a destination or paste an address, and this page builds a card with the Japanese name printed large, the reading above it, and the sentences a driver needs. Save it to your phone or print a sheet before you fly — it works with no signal.
Type an English or Japanese name — Fushimi, 渋谷, Kyoto Station…
Paste the Japanese name or address of a hotel, restaurant or anywhere else — copy it from Google Maps and it will be in Japanese already.
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Cards on the sheet
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Every destination has its own page with the kanji, the kana reading, the romaji and a card you can generate in one click.
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How to use a taxi in Japan
Doors open and close by themselves — stand back and wait. The fare is on the meter, tipping does not exist, and the change is yours. Most city taxis take credit cards and IC cards such as Suica, but a small local firm may be cash only, so ask before you set off. If the driver looks unsure after reading your card, the missing piece is almost always the ward or the nearest station rather than the destination name.
The phrase page has the sentences for the rest of the ride — asking the fare, asking for the expressway, stopping at the corner — each printed in Japanese so you can show rather than say them: taxi phrases in Japanese.
Frequently asked questions
Why not just show the driver Google Maps?
That works when you have a signal and battery. A card does not: it is a picture on your phone or a piece of paper in your pocket, readable in a tunnel, on landing, or when your phone is dead. Drivers also read a printed name faster than they can take a phone out of your hand.
Is my destination or address uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole generator runs in your browser — the destination list is part of the page, the card is drawn on a canvas and the PDF is assembled locally. Nothing you type leaves the device, so hotel names and addresses stay private.
What should I print on it for a hotel?
Hotels change names and close, so this site does not keep a hotel list. Copy the hotel name and address from your booking confirmation or Google Maps in Japanese, paste it into the free-text tab, and add the phone number in the note field — that is what a driver will ask for if the building is hard to find.
How many cards fit on one sheet of paper?
Business-card size (91 x 55 mm) gives ten per A4 sheet; A6 gives two. Add several destinations to the sheet before you download the PDF and they are imposed together, so one print covers a whole trip.
Are the Japanese readings reliable?
Place names are the hardest thing to read in Japanese, even for Japanese speakers. Readings here come from Wikidata (CC0) with an automated consistency check, plus a hand-written set for the best-known destinations. Mistakes are still possible — verify the address in Google Maps before you rely on it, and the kanji itself is always correct even when a reading is not.