Re:

the girls had a great time they asked when you know the taxi =river is taking the long route. instead of the short. how do you =ell him , you know what he is up to?

So there are almost never taxis in Japan who will take the long route =o try to get more money - they are too honest. They usually take longer =outes to avoid traffic or if you have told them that you want to see =omething. SOMETIMES they may make mistakes, but usually they are just =rying to get you to where you are going faster.

good defense. the question is how does one gently confront someone

=ho might be somewhat less than honest :)

Hmm. If you're two white girls who aren't fluent in =apanese, it's pretty hard. You sort of have to be a Japanese =an.

I suppose one thing is to say "this is the wrong way" =nd if they don't do anything about it, just get out of the taxi =r threaten to.

Otherwise call someone Japanese or the hotel and have them talk to the =river on your phone and tell the driver that they are "unhappy =ith the route."

It is always very hard to negotiate routes because traffic does make the =oute different depending on the time.

On the other hand, I sometimes get drives who are sincere, but sincerely =ost. I often ask "do you know where you're going?"=lf they don't I'll sometimes get out or tell them =xactly where to go.

It's a hard city to navigate - very large and non-grid - so you =ill sometimes get drivers who don't know where they are going, =ut they will usually signal that with body language or saying it. They =ight hide it from foreigners.

• Joi