Ibaraki Pref.’s 1st Foreign Bus Driver Hired in Tsukuba

By Yu Yoshimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, March 6, 2026

MITO — Amid labor shortages in the transportation industry, Ibaraki Prefecture’s first foreign bus driver began working in Tsukuba in February under the specified skilled workers visa status. He now drives a school bus and enjoys interacting with children.

Born in Sri Lanka, Wataketiya Walawwe Kavinda Bandara Senevirathna came to Japan in 2023 as an international student at a Japanese language school operated by Jyonan Kotsu, a bus operator in Tsukuba in the prefecture. With his experience as a heavy-truck driver in his home country, he had hoped to work as a large-truck driver in Japan, but there was no work visa that allowed foreigners to enter the transportation industry at that time.

This changed in 2024, when the government added the automobile transportation sector, including bus drivers, to Category I of the specified skilled workers status to address labor shortages, paving the way for foreigners to work in the industry.

After graduating in June 2025, Kavinda, a model student at the school, was hired by Jyonan Kotsu and began preparing to obtain the Class 2 large vehicle driver’s license, which is required to drive commercial large vehicles, and Category I visa status.

Since hiring a foreign driver was an unprecedented move for the company, the staff consulted the Nihon Bus Association and other organizations on the procedural details and worked through the process step by step.

A major hurdle for Kavinda was learning kanji characters, which are essential for understanding traffic rules and routes. His colleague Chiaki Nidaira helped him study by translating the meaning of kanji characters into the language he used in his home country.

“He was highly motivated and studied diligently behind the scenes, such as by looking up kanji characters and writing them himself,” Nidaira, 32, recalled.

Kavinda’s hard work paid off when he passed the driver’s license exam in September. He also acquired Category I residence status at the end of last year after completing the association’s mandatory training.

Starting in January, he trained alongside a senior driver on actual routes, and he began mainly driving a school bus for elementary students on his own in February.

With his cheerful personality, he quickly won over the children, who call out his name when they see him.

Facing a driver shortage, Jyonan Kotsu decided to train foreign drivers. The company currently has 57 drivers, which is enough to operate regular services such as school buses. But during peak seasons, the company sometimes has to turn down requests for higher-fare charter buses. In addition, the average age of the drivers is 58.

“The number of [bus drivers] is likely to decline sharply over the next three to five years nationwide,” Masatoshi Saito, managing director of the company, said. “We hope to hire not only Japanese people, but also foreigners.”