Didi Mobility Japan, a joint venture (JV) between China's Didi Chuxing and SoftBank, is to expand its taxi-hailing service to 13 cities across Japan.
According to Reuters, its app was first launched in Osaka last September, because it's a popular destination for Chinese tourists, and has linked with 40 taxi firms in an increasingly crowded market for such apps that includes rivals backed by Sony and Toyota Motor.
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Didi Mobility expanded into Tokyo and Kyoto from today (24 April) and a further 10 locations will follow this financial year, the report said.
Reuters noted that, despite SoftBank's considerable presence in the global ride-hailing industry, such services are effectively banned in Japan, limiting SoftBank portfolio companies like Didi and Uber to offering services that match taxis with customers.
Users will be able to access the taxi-hailing service through Yahoo Japan's route-finding app and pay via PayPay, an app that uses tech from Indias Paytm, Reuters added.
