Tag - driving

 
 

DRIVING

Toyota sold 10.8 million cars in 2024, a slight drop from the previous year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2025
Toyota arm that keeps 150 million cars on road also top-earning
Toyota’s value chain arm is set to exceed operating profit from new car sales during the fiscal year ending March 2026 after reaching a record ¥2 trillion the previous year.
The total length of Japan's expressways in service stood at 10,328 kilometers as of the end of March 2025.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2025
20 years after privatization, free expressways still 90 years away
The privatization was a key policy of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Post's mini cargo vehicles parked at a post office in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2025
Japan Post served notice suspending mini cargo vehicle use
The transport ministry suspended 111 post offices from using such vehicles over their failure to properly conduct roll calls for drivers.
A new draft proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2025
Justice Ministry proposes criteria for dangerous driving offenses
The proposal is aimed at clarifying the charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury.
Nissan’s ProPilot navigates traffic while under human supervision during a test drive in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025
Nissan revamps ProPilot to rival Tesla's driver-assist technology
The next version will be able to take on complex city streets using fewer cameras and monitors thanks to artificial intelligence software.
Sayaka Togitani's daughter Hinami was delivered via emergency cesarean section but suffered fetal hypoxia, which left her with a severe disability.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 3, 2025
Family calls for daughter born after car accident to be recognized as a victim
The family of a pregnant woman who died after being hit by a car wants the daughter, born afterward with a severe disability, to be deemed a victim.
Japan Post has been under investigation by the transport ministry since it was revealed that improper alcohol and health checks were widespread across the company.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025
Japan Post ordered to suspend delivery vans at 100 post offices
Light commercial vans are the company’s primary means of transportation for deliveries, but Japan Post says it will continue operations as usual.
A Tesla robotaxi drives on a street along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, on June 22. CEO Elon Musk has set an ambitious timeline of having "millions of Teslas operating autonomously” by the second half of next year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 1, 2025
How Tesla and Waymo's radically different robotaxi approaches will shape the industry
The differing strategies have far-reaching implications for the early pecking order in the nascent autonomous-driving space.
Honda Motor and Redwood City, California-based Helm.ai will collaborate on producing advanced driver assistance systems for Honda’s mass market vehicles by 2027, the two said Wednesday in a statement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2025
Honda taps Silicon Valley startup in self-driving software deal
Honda Motor and Helm.ai will collaborate on producing advanced driver assistance systems for Honda’s mass market vehicles by 2027.
Heavy traffic on the nation's highways is just as much a part of the Bon holiday period as visiting ancestral graves.
LIFE / Bilingual
Aug 7, 2025
Brave the Bon holiday traffic to discover tourism gems off the beaten path
Learn how to ask about secret spots, regional dishes and specialty gifts using natural Japanese structures on your summer travels.
The transport ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, in some expressway sections between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Japan to test autoflow roads for self-driving freight vehicles
The ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
The number of car accidents in Japan resulting in death or serious injury that were caused by foreign drivers in the first half of 2025 totaled 258, up by 19 from a year earlier and exceeding 250 for the first time since 2008, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2025
Ratio of serious car accidents caused by foreign drivers hits record 2.1%
A total of 258 of such accidents, which caused death or serious injury, occurred in the first half of 2025, according to National Police Agency data.
A driverless car by Apollo Go, Baidu's robotaxi service, drives on a road in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on July 19, 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2025
Uber teams up with China’s Baidu on global robotaxi rollout
Baidu’s autonomous vehicles will be available on the Uber app in Asia and the Middle East later this year, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.
Pick up some country-style bread from Boulangerie Aman on your road trip in Kamikawa, Hokkaido.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 13, 2025
Road-tripping through central Hokkaido? Don't miss these bakeries
Slice through lavender fields and flaky croissants on your drive through the scenic region of Kamikawa.
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
The stricter measures come in response to a series of high-profile car accidents caused by foreign drivers.
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2025
Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites
The convenience store operator hopes to capitalize on demand from out-of-town visitors in places where overnight accommodations are limited.
A Xiaomi SU7 sedan in Beijing. Regulators have been finalizing new safety rules for driver-assistance systems as Beijing sharpens scrutiny of the technology following an accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 sedan in March.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Jul 5, 2025
China urges caution — and speed — on assisted-driving technology
Driver-assistance systems are seen by industry analysts as the next big battleground in China's hypercompetitive car market.
Shingo Kato, assistant manager at Homechigiru Driving School in Ise, Mie Prefecture, rides in a training vehicle with a smartphone equipped with the school’s translation app.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 30, 2025
Translation apps help break language barriers at Chubu driving schools
Some driving schools have refused enrollment of foreign nationals with limited Japanese skills, sources have said.
A group of tourists drive go-karts in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on April 18, 2024. The ward will introduce new regulations on go-kart rental operators starting July 1.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025
Shibuya to regulate popular street kart rentals amid tourist boom
Go-kart-style vehicles have become a staple part of Tokyo’s inbound tourism scene, but they have also drawn complaints from locals.
A minivehicle that crashed head-on with another vehicle in the Enasan Tunnel in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, on June 11 after being driven the wrong way on the Chuo Expressway
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 18, 2025
Wrong-way driving on expressways proves a persistent problem in Japan
Around 200 cases of wrong-way driving on expressways are reported each year.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?