tbh is saw the pic of the 4 lane taxis and u can see themarker on the road, also u can see that they are using that red tar "where all the taxis are parked" not quite sure you are right that at that exact spot its a 4 lane road for all motorist to use
seen those taxi stand thingies in front of a lot of stations.
but anyway, i agree that taxis have their own set of rules and that they drive like crazy. if i ever get run over it was probably a taxi xD.
they change ane when and where they want, they stop wherever they want (including in the middle of left/right turns at traffic lights) infront of busses, on pedestrian crossings (while pedestrians have green)
about the gaijin card (alien registration card) I love it. don t have to bring my passport anywhere and i hope foreigners one day have to have something like that in my country
small story..
police like to stop foreigners and practice a little english, especially in roppongi in tokyo. its the one place where i heard that if you want to work as a police officer there, you have to be able to speak some english. i was stopped once at around 5 am. and they asked me what i was doing there. so i just showed them my card and said nothing. one of them asked me the same question again,(kinda grumpy i didn t answer) till the other guy told him "doitsu" which means german xD and they let me go.
what you said about you having to speak japanese since the cops clearly didn t speak any engish
Never EVER speak japanese to cops. just smile, bow, "i'm sorry" and they wil let you go 99% of the time. do not show any anger but only regret (if its regret that u did what u did or that they caught you doing it, i ll leave up to you xD)