[steven]

Not to be repeat too much, but like other people have said, money is money, and taxis are often lined up waiting for the next customer, so to refuse someone based on anything would be a bit of a logistical problem (as MMM said). So whether they like you (or their Japanese riders) or not, they'll pretty much have to take you.

In my personal experience, the taxi cab drivers seem to enjoy taking my money haha. I would think it would be a nice break in their day, too... to get some really different looking people for a change. In fact, I've asked taxi drivers for directions before and they've helped me full knowing I didn't plan on riding with them. They are usually nice folks-- I'm sure you'll occasionally run into a really dry person (as I have), but I think that's par for the course anywhere you go.

I drive every day here in Japan and I've driven through what I guess you could call jungly looking mountain-barely-one-car-sized-roads (pavement being optional) to big cities like Osaka, Nagoya, and Kanazawa... but like Nyororin said, the scariest moments driving can very easily be a taxi driver driving you around. They're obviously very good drivers (haha for the most part) so they will probably drive a lot faster and with way more confidence than any normal human being is comfortable with. I think it also has to do with the fact that you are a paying customer and therefore you take precident over any `luckless pedestrian` who happens to walk in front of them. Seriously though, it makes me wonder how hard that taxi-grade drivers license is to pull off haha. I probably couldn't do it in a million years.