Truck, Bus, Taxi Companies in Japan Hiring More Foreigners to Ease Shortages

By By Makoto Hirose / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:31 JST, June 5, 2025

Trucks, buses and taxis driven by foreign drivers will be a more common sight across the nation from this fiscal year.

This is because the automobile transportation industry has been added to the list of categories for the specified skilled worker (SSW) status of residence in order to address the shortage of Japanese drivers.

However, there are concerns among customers such as whether foreign drivers with SSW visas will drive safely and whether they speak Japanese. To address these concerns, companies hiring foreign drivers have begun taking measures such as providing training for them on a continual basis.

SSW is a status of residence established in 2019 to accept foreign workers in industries facing labor shortages. In March 2024, the government approved a Cabinet decision to add automobile transportation and three other industries to the program.

“I look forward to going to Japan. I would like to be a driver who puts safety first,” Dang Thanh Binh from Hanoi, 33, said in fluent Japanese. He was hired by the Kawasaki-based Keihin Kohtsu-Taxi and is coming to Japan this summer.

In an online interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun, he talked about his enthusiasm for the job.

Dang studied in Japan for three years. To become an SSW driver, he passed the necessary tests including the Japanese language proficiency test required to obtain a status of residence.

After coming to Japan, he will switch his local driver’s license to a Japanese one and attend a driving school to obtain a Class 2 driver’s license. He aims to make his debut as a driver around autumn.

Keihin Kohtsu-Taxi has approximately 220 taxis and needs more than 350 drivers to fully operate them. However, the company currently has about 300 drivers and their average age is in the mid-60s. Under such circumstances, the company has found it difficult to secure enough drivers in Japan.

Since last summer, Shinichi Fukuoka, the head of the company’s operations department, has been interviewing applicants in Vietnam. The company then decided to accept the first group of new foreign hires.

Foreign drivers are expected to face many challenges in their jobs, such as understanding place names and communicating with passengers. In addition to providing them with training in traffic laws and regulations, driving techniques and customer service as needed, Keihin Kohtsu-Taxi is considering introducing a system in which passengers enter their destinations by voice on an electronic device, which is then reflected in the car navigation system.

“Safe driving is the top priority,” Fukuoka said. “We will instruct foreign drivers to avoid violations and accidents and support them in their daily lives, too.”

Driving has been added to the list of skills in SSW because of the serious labor shortage in the industry. The government plans to accept up to 24,500 foreign drivers by fiscal 2028.

Many companies are now working to hire foreign drivers. The Osaka-based Sakai Moving Service Co. will accept 30 Indonesian truck driver candidates who will come to Japan around August. The company plans to train them in driving and moving techniques in Indonesia. After they arrive in Japan, they will be trained in the same way as Japanese employees, according to the company.

Local governments and driving schools have also begun providing support for foreigners. TDG Holdings, a company that operates driving schools in Mie and other prefectures, offers services that cover everything from local hiring of foreign drivers and helping them with their applications for their residence status to driving skill training and daily life support. Several major logistics companies are using the services.

Meanwhile, the city of Sapporo — where bus services have been reduced and some routes have been terminated — has been working with bus companies and other organizations since April to subsidize half of living expenses and tuition fees as well as the cost of obtaining a Class 2 driver’s license for international students who study in Japan and wish to become SSW drivers.

Companies held responsible

The biggest challenge in fully accepting foreign drivers is how to ensure safe driving.

“Since a truck is driven by one person, it is difficult to have Japanese employees supervise foreign drivers,” said Takuta Shinbara, representative of Hub and Spoke Logistics, a transportation company in Saitama Prefecture aiming to employ Filipino drivers. “We are ready to incur additional costs to make sure they drive safely.”

Recently, the test for converting driver’s licenses from other countries has been called into question in the Diet and other places as being too easy, and discussions are underway to make the test stricter. Since foreign drivers with SSW visas are required to obtain a Class 2 driver’s license or other types of driver’s licenses, they have far more professional skills than those with converted driver’s licenses.

Even so, there is concern that SSW drivers could cause confusion due to their inexperience in case of accidents or disasters.

“Not only are there conventional labor issues involving foreign workers such as work-related accidents, but drivers are also at risk of becoming perpetrators,” said lawyer Shoichi Ibusuki, who is familiar with foreign labor issues. “For that, it is important that each company be responsible for the training and education of foreign drivers.”

“The government will need to regularly examine the situation of accidents, violations and the working environment, disclose the information and check the system on a regular basis,” he added.