Taxi, bus or truck: which one?Licenses, shifts, ages and pay, side by side

Commercial large-truck drivers have annualized pay of about ¥5.07 million, the highest of the four. But monthly overtime is long, at 33 hours, and about ¥80,000 of monthly pay is overtime and similar. “Trucking” covers very different lives: local delivery rounds, mid-distance day trips, and long-haul runs with overnight stays.

Because a semi-medium license (準中型免許, vehicles under 7.5 tons gross) can be obtained from 18, one route is to start on small and medium delivery trucks straight out of high school, then use special eligibility training to move up to medium and large trucks from 19. On a visit, check how long drivers wait for cargo and whether they load and unload by hand.

Taxi drivers’ annualized pay is about ¥4.51 million. What stands out is how little it varies with age: about ¥4.83 million for both 20–24 and 25–29, and about ¥5.18 million for 30–34. Bonuses are small, at ¥198,000 a year, and many companies appear to include commission in monthly pay.

The workforce is older: 43.0% of full-time drivers are 60 or over and 26.3% are 65 or over. The Japan Federation of Hire-Taxi Associations counted 14,388 women drivers (end of March 2026). Shifts are either day shifts, from morning to evening, or alternate-day shifts, where you work two days’ worth in one stint and take the next day as an “ake” rest day (明け休み).

In March 2024, “Japanese-style ridesharing” (日本版ライドシェア) began, in which ordinary drivers carry passengers in their own cars under the management of a taxi company. Holders of a Class 1 license (excluding those in their first-year novice period) can take part if they meet conditions such as a clean accident record. According to MLIT, as of Aug 17, 2025 it operated in 141 areas with 9,518 registered drivers. It is limited to areas, days and times when taxis are in short supply, and we found no public data on what it pays.

Bus drivers’ annualized pay is about ¥4.53 million. Annual bonuses of ¥590,000 are high among driving jobs. Because route buses run to match morning and evening rush hours, some shifts include a long midday break between start and finish, and that break counts toward on-duty hours.

Just 2.0% of bus drivers are under 30, and 36.4% are 60 or over. The wage survey’s “bus drivers” also include shuttle and school buses, and many work part-time (an estimated 34,390, average age 67.4). Route buses continue to be cut back or discontinued in some areas, so job stability also depends on planned route reorganizations.

“Other carrying workers,” which includes warehouse work, have an average age of 46.3, with 12.8% under 30 and 21.5% women, a younger and more female workforce than driving. Annualized pay is lower, at about ¥4.07 million, but monthly overtime is short, at 16 hours. At 1.08, the openings ratio shows less of a shortage than for drivers, but much of the work, such as picking and inspection, can be started with no qualifications.

A forklift qualification widens the range of work. More in “Warehouse and forklift work.”

The numbers can only tell you what each workplace looks like on average. At the same taxi company, earnings vary with the service area and the share of app dispatch; at the same trucking company, the day runs differently depending on the cargo and the shipper. Once the averages have narrowed your options, the quickest way to find out the rest is to see the actual workplace.

What to check is listed in “What to check on a workplace visit.” The job of keeping the vehicles running is covered in “Auto mechanic openings ratio at 4.04.”