Uber Skips World's Biggest Cab Market for Japan's Tiniest Towns

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In a small coastal town on the Sea of Japan, Uber Technologies Inc. is deploying an unusual strategy.

The average age of an Uber passenger in Tangocho, population 5,914, is at least 70. Even stranger: most of these elderly customers don't own a smartphone, so they have to call someone with a device to summon rides. This isn't the typical target market. Go to any big city around the world with millennials glued to their gadgets, and chances are Uber will be there.