Review | Tokyo Taxi movie review: Takuya Kimura and Chieko Baisho star in moving Yoji Yamada drama

Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life

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Takuya Kimura and Chieko Baisho in a still from Tokyo Taxi (category: IIA, Japanese), directed by Yoji Yamada.

Published: 9:15pm, 4 Feb 2026

4/5 stars

The 91st feature film from veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada is a typically nostalgic affair, in which screen icon Chieko Baisho plays an elderly woman who bonds with her taxi driver (Takuya Kimura) while reminiscing about her eventful life.

A remake of the 2022 French film Driving Madeleine, this beautifully pitched drama was produced as part of Shochiku Studios’ 130th anniversary celebrations.

Baisho, a prolific singer and actress who has appeared in well over a hundred films, has been working in the entertainment industry since the 1960s. Her collaborations with Yamada date back to 1965’s A Trap, and she became a regular fixture of his long-running Tora-san series.

Here she plays the seemingly unassuming Sumire, who hires a taxi to drive her from Shibamata to a retirement home in Hayama. Sumire insists on taking a number of detours along what is already a lengthy road trip, revisiting various notable Tokyo landmarks from her past, which in turn trigger a torrent of memories, yearnings and regrets.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life

Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life