Photo/Illutration Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Technologies Inc., speaks with Japanese reporters in San Francisco on Nov. 15. (Daisuke Igarashi)

SAN FRANCISCO--With moves afoot in Japan to begin ride-sharing programs in certain localities, the CEO of Uber Technologies Inc. has expressed interest in driving into the Japanese market.

Dara Khosrowshahi met with Japanese media representatives, including The Asahi Shimbun, on Nov. 15.

“Potential in Japan is enormous,” Khosrowshahi said, noting it had the fourth largest gross domestic product in the world. “Japan is a very strategic market for us. It’s a very large economy.”

If Japanese authorities approve ride-sharing programs, Uber is prepared to jump into the market, Khosrowshahi said.

Uber already has ties with some Japanese taxi companies and Khosrowshahi said, “We want every single taxi in Japan on our Uber app.”

While admitting that his company now only had a “miniscule” presence in the Japanese market, Khosrowshahi said that the current situation in which Japanese taxi drivers work 17 to 19 hours per shift “clearly is not sustainable.”

Uber officials said their app was in use at taxi companies in about 20 Japanese cities, including Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

Khosrowshahi added that his company would propose that government regulations for commercial driver’s licenses be revised and that driver’s tests should be offered in multiple languages to accommodate foreign drivers.

He said that if ride-sharing was approved in Japan, his company would enter the market “in a safe, constructive way.”

Founded in San Francisco in 2009, Uber now does business in 70 nations. Sales in the July to September quarter increased 11 percent from the previous year to $9.3 billion (about 1.4 trillion yen). Ride-sharing accounts for about 60 percent of the company’s sales while food deliveries account for another 30 percent or so.

UBER DRIVER’S LAMENT

Because drivers who work for Uber are considered individual entrepreneurs rather than employees, their vulnerable position in relation to the company has often been pointed out.

Valere, an Uber driver in Washington, D.C., said that drivers needed to work long hours to earn a sufficient livelihood through Uber.

When Valere started working for Uber eight years ago, the company’s take was only 25 percent of the fare. Now the company’s cut has risen to 50 or 60 percent. Valere said the company believed that any drivers with a complaint should just quit.

Paramjit, another Uber driver in Washington, D.C., took a reporter from his hotel to a courthouse near the U.S. Capitol Building. The fare was $18.27 (about 2,800 yen).

Paramjit showed the reporter his smartphone, which displayed the Uber app record of the trip. The driver received only $9.19 for the ride, during which they had traveled over 2.1 miles in 20 minutes and 18 seconds.

Uber does not disclose its ride fares or changes in what it takes from drivers.

Khosrowshahi claimed in the interview that Uber drivers were making “$33 per hour, which is a very, very healthy earnings level.”

He added that the company’s take of the fares was about 15 percent in the United States because the company also had to pay for the driver’s insurance.

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