Japan passengers pay extra for cabbies to act as bodyguards or ninjas with dramatic drop-offs

Passengers in Japan who pay an extra 5,000 yen (US$34) can expect a dramatic drop-off as their taxi drivers transform into bodyguards or ninjas.

Sanwa Koutsu, a Japanese taxi company with a 59-year history, offers this special customised driver service.

Dressed in black suits and sunglasses, like we often see in Hollywood films, drivers role-play as bodyguards, driving and escorting passengers with stern, expressionless faces.

Throughout the journey, they pretend to communicate with security “headquarters” using wireless devices in the taxi, reporting on the route.

As passengers alight from the vehicle, the “bodyguard” driver pulls out water guns and a supposedly bulletproof briefcase to shield their protected passenger, simulating a sniper attack scenario.