Cherry blossom season marks new beginnings in Japan, and this spring, it also signals Waymo's arrival. Late last year, we announced a partnership with GO, a leading Japanese taxi platform, and Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo's largest taxi company, to introduce Waymo's autonomous driving technology to Japan and explore its potential benefits within the city's transportation ecosystem. Since then, we’ve been hard at work with our partners as we prepare for Waymo’s vehicles to begin driving on Tokyo’s streets. Nihon Kotsu established a new depot to accommodate Waymo vehicles; Waymo conducted training sessions with Nihon Kotsu and GO teams, focusing on best practices for autonomous fleet operations management; and together, we have begun fostering strong community relationships through outreach to the general public, local organizations, and government agencies. Soon Nihon Kotsu drivers will begin manually driving Waymo's vehicles in Tokyo— our first kilometers on international public roads. These vehicles will navigate across several wards of Japan’s capital city including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō, creating detailed 3D maps of the city and gathering essential experience from professional drivers to inform the development of Waymo's technology for Japan. (....)