OKAYAMA, Japan (Kyodo) -- An Indonesian man will be the first to take advantage of Japan extending the scope of its specified skilled worker visa to encompass the road transportation sector when he begins work as a bus driver in fiscal 2025.

Iyus, 40, who came to Japan in 2013, attended a language school and worked at a travel agency before joining Tokyo-based Nikko Kanko Bus Co.

He passed a test demonstrating professional and communication skills in December and is expected to start work in fiscal 2025 starting in April. Having obtained the required large motor vehicle license, he is on course to take a role as a tour bus driver.

"I wanted to be a bus driver. It feels like a dream," he told a press conference in Okayama earlier in February held to mark his achievement. "I want to introduce tourist spots in Japan and visit there together."

Securing bus drivers is becoming a major challenge for Japan, with the government projecting a shortage of around 22,000 in 2029. The nation's falling birthrate and a legal revision last year that limited drivers' working hours are contributing to the problem.

Amid the increased need for foreign labor, the Cabinet decided last March to expand the scope of the Specified Skilled Worker No. 1 visa to accept foreign workers in four additional industries, covering road and railway transportation as well as the forestry and timber sectors.

Japan plans to admit up to 24,500 drivers of buses, trucks and taxis in the five years from fiscal 2024 under the visa, which enables them to stay in Japan for up to five years.