How do you say "out of service" in Japanese?

Name: An Empty Taxi Drove Straight Past You in Tokyo With Your Arm in the Air. Two Kanji in the Window Had Already Said No.
Uploaded: 2026-08-25T22:56:31Z
Duration: 20 s
Description: Learn to say 回送 (kaisō) — out of service. A 30-second Japanese lesson for travelers from Kōfuku.

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An Empty Taxi Drove Straight Past You in Tokyo With Your Arm in the Air. Two Kanji in the Window Had Already Said No.

To say out of service in Japanese, say 回送 (kaisō).

An empty taxi in Tokyo drove straight past you with your arm in the air. It wasn't ignoring you. Two kanji in the window had already said no.

回送 kaisō out of service

Survival sign-decode #learnjapanese #japantravel #japanesekanji #tokyotravel #traveltips

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In this video

この電車は回送です。 kono densha wa kaisō desu This train is out of service.
回送の電車には乗れません。 kaisō no densha ni wa noremasen You can't get on an out of service train.

Why this phrase

One word, three rescues. This is the sign that means the vehicle is running but not carrying anyone, and it turns up on a taxi's window display, a bus destination board and a train's front sign. The video decodes it and then gives the practical follow through, which display you CAN flag down and which one is already on its way to someone else. Accuracy guardrails from the verifier, both premises checked and true: this word is standard on taxi super signs alongside the vacant, hired and en route displays, and standard on bus and train boards. Do NOT say the doors of one of these trains open at the platform. Lead with the taxi, it's the moment everyone has actually had.