A taxi from Otsuki (the station mentioned in the article) to even Hachioji (another station that's famous for being "the last stop") would take over an hour and

A taxi from Otsuki (the station mentioned in the article) to even Hachioji (another station that's famous for being "the last stop") would take over an hour and cost >20,000JPY. At that point it's cheaper to get a hotel. Even if you have the money, the possibility of taxis just not being available at that time in a place like Otsuki is pretty high.