Our Tremendous App Of The Day – Nihon Kotsu
Just hear me out, I don’t expect any of our loyal readers to of heard of this app, Nihon Kotsu, but very soon I am sure you will. Currently it is only available in Japan but we are certain it will hit the rest of the world very soon, it has already raked in more than 100 million yen since its launch in January after all.
Let me tell you a little more about it. It is a taxi/cab dispatch service app, with a difference, it utilizes GPS data and as soon as you open the app, a map pops up. You can then designate a place where you want to be collected from. The order goes directly to the taxi company, in this case, Nihon Kotsu Co – Tokyo’s largest taxi company, they then find the nearest available taxi and provide you with the car license plate and any other relevant id information. At the moment its limited to Tokyo’s 23 wards as well as a few neighboring areas but further expansions are on the cards.
This app is fantastic for so many reasons, firstly the user has the convenience of calling a taxi whenever or wherever they need it. For safety reasons, the customer does not need to wait by the side of the street and hope that they’re getting into the right car. The taxi is specifically identified for them and the user will have all of these details on their smartphone directly within the app. And of course, if you’re in a foreign country, you don’t need to try and order a taxi verbally if your language skills aren’t up to scratch.
I’m really hoping this service rolls out throughout the rest of the world and I’m pretty sure it will. If you want to check this app out, you can download here from the Japanese app store, it’s free and it will give you an idea of why it is so good.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
