One of the paths to living and working in Japan is the country’s specified skilled worker program. The program provides status of residence to foreign nationals working in specific fields such as nursing care, industrial manufacturing, agriculture, and hotel accommodation. The system was expanded last year to include a new category, “automobile and transportation business,” and Japan now has its first specified skilled worker foreign tour bus driver.
Seen in the video above is Iyus (no first name provided), the newest bus driver for Okayama Prefecture’s Ryobi Group. The 40-year-old Indonesian man was the only person to successfully pass the first SSW automobile and transportation business test, which was held in December and also covers taxi and delivery truck driver work.
Iyus came to Japan in 2013 as a Japanese language school student and later found work with a travel services company in Japan. Last summer he joined Nikko Kanko, a Ryobi sightseeing subsidiary that operates in Tokyo, with the goal of becoming a driver. Part of the requirements for the SSW (i) classification Iyus obtained is “Proficiency in Japanese language required in daily life and at the workplace,” which he was able to fulfil through taking the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test in the same month as his SSW automobile and transportation business exam.
▼ Ryobi executives introducing Iyus at a press conference following his passing of exams
“Becoming a professional driver is a dream come true,” says Iyus. “I will provide safe, comfortable transportation to our passengers.” He’s scheduled to start driving routes for Nikko Bus in Tokyo at the start of the business year in April.
Sources: PR Times, NHK News Web, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Images: PR Times
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Bus driver’s kind service towards blind passenger wins praise from Taiwanese netizens
-- Permanent Japanese residency to be possible for foreigners with anime-related jobs after one year
-- Where’s the happiest place for foreigners to live in Japan? Study investigates
© SoraNews24
9 Comments
Login to comment
DanteKH
Oh Japan....
Imagine having those kind of news in any other country in the world, except Japan... :)
A foreigner becoming a bus driver!! Imagine that!! What's next? Foreign taxi and cab drivers??
What has the world become! /s
Pukey2
My driver from the airport during the pandemic was Indonesian. Very good service, trilingual, excellent driving skills.
bo
They are taking our jobs !
iron man
No they are not taking your jobs, they are releasing you to do better things with your life. At least they u'stand which side the driver sits on, unlike our attempts to import public minibus drivers.
garymalmgren
The 40-year-old Indonesian man was the only person to successfully pass the first SSW automobile and transportation business test, which was held in December and also covers taxi and delivery truck driver work.
The only person or the only non-Japanese person?
If the only person, that could be a reason for the driver shortage couldn't it?
I wonder how many took the test and what it costs to complete such a specialized driving course.?
Thunderbird2
It's like 1960s Britain all over again... foreign bus drivers, eh?... whatever will they think of next? Train drivers?
factchecker
Can we have him drive the Toei buses please? Might be a bit faster than the dawdling driving miss daisy types we have with the Japanese bus drivers.
USNinJapan2
garymalmgren
The exam mentioned is for foreigners only. This article isn't written very well as it should've explained what SSW stands for, which is Special Skilled Worker (visa/residence status).
1glenn
Reminds me of our trip to Alaska, and how they import workers from the Lower 48 during the tourist season. The young tour guide I was talking with told me that her roundtrip air fare and her food and lodging were provided gratis, on top of her hourly wage. Not a bad job for a young person wanting to see a different part of the world. Apparently the young people who live in Alaska are in high demand in the fishing industry, where they can make as much as a thousand dollars per day. Unfortunately, fishing season and tourist season overlap, so there aren't enough locals for the tourist industry.
I imagine the labor shortage in Japan will necessitate allowing many more people to immigrate.