Photos

There are many surprising things about a Tokyo taxi, but the first to strike me is the rear door. I bend forward to pull the handle but it's too late, the driver's pressed the auto release button and set several kilos of glass and metal on an unstoppable arc towards my head. As I weep, a blurry figure hurries over. "Daniel-san! So sorry! Here, take energy drink. Good for health!" My accidental assailant is Yukio Sudow, a 68-year-old Tokyoite and our guide to this mysterious metropolis. We met yesterday when his yellow cab appeared at the perfect moment to save me from a street hawker. Tonight he's agreed to show us the secret world of the nocturnal cabbie in a place where most streets are nameless and the roadmap looks like an unravelled ball of string.

Words: Dan Read
Photography: Irwin Wong

This feature was first published in the January 2012 issue of Top Gear magazine