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

Yomiuri Shimbun

05-06-2025

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Dang Thanh Binh, who is to be hired as a taxi driver with the resident status of specified skills worker by Keihin Kohtsu-Taxi, shows a textbook for his studies to work in Japan.
Trucks, buses and taxis driven by foreign drivers will be seen 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 four additional industries including the automobile transportation industry.
'Safety first'
'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 with a smile on his face. He was hired by the Kawasaki-based taxi company 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.
The company 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.
They are expected to face many challenges in their jobs as drivers, 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, the company is considering introducing a system in which passengers enter their destinations by voice on an electronic terminal, which is then reflected in the car navigation system. Fukuoka said: 'Safe driving is the top priority. We will instruct foreign drivers to avoid violations and accidents and support them in their daily lives, too.
Labor shortages
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 major moving company 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 based in Mie Prefecture that operates driving schools in Mie and other prefectures, offers services that cover everything from local hiring of foreign drivers and 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.
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Shinichi Fukuoka, the head of the operations department at Keihin Kohtsu-Taxi, talks about his expectations of foreign drivers in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, on May 13.
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. We are ready to incur additional costs to make sure they drive safely,' said Takuta Shinbara, representative of Hub and Spoke Logistics, a transportation company in Saitama Prefecture aiming to employ Filipino drivers.
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 license, 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.
Attorney Shoichi Ibusuki, who is familiar with foreign labor issues, said: 'Not only are there conventional labor issues involving foreign workers such as work-related accidents, but drivers are also at risk of becoming perpetrators. 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 consistent basis,' he added.