Waymo has officially launched its robotaxi service in Tokyo, Japan, with a focus on mapping seven central wards, including Minato, Shinjuku, and Shibuya.

The company is starting this initiative with a fleet of 25 Jaguar I-PACE vehicles, marking the beginning of the mapping process in early April 2025.

Waymo's approach to developing autonomous technology emphasizes extensive mapping of an area prior to launching fully autonomous services, which differs from the end-to-end learning models favored by competitors like Tesla.

Initially, the robotaxis will not operate autonomously; instead, drivers from Nihon Kotsu will manually drive the vehicles to gather data and adapt to the local driving conditions.

Yasuharu Wakabayashi, president of Nihon Kotsu, mentioned that their drivers have received training in the US and are prepared to introduce Waymo's technology in Tokyo.

Currently, Waymo provides over 200,000 paid passenger trips weekly across its various service areas, including San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

Waymo has established partnerships with rideshare platforms in cities such as Austin and Atlanta for fleet management, while continuing its operations in San Francisco.

The vehicles have been modified to meet Japanese regulations, which include new signage and additional blindspot mirrors.

Vishay Nihalani, Waymo's director of product management, stated that as the robotaxi system learns, the time required for mapping cities will decrease.