And, in a land that believes in planning, Japan continues AV pursuit

Maebashi will be the first city in Japan to host autonomous buses operating on public roads. Testing will begin in the spring of 2018. The expectation is that "[s]tarting from November 2018, the test buses will have passengers on board." Japan's motivation is a large aging population that will need to get around and will want to remain independent without driving.

Autonomous cars are still not recognized under Japan's Road Traffic Act or the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, which sets common standards among signatory nations. However, driverless vehicles and artificial intelligence hold pride of place in the central government's cutting-edge tech growth strategy, which includes a 2020 deadline for the practical implementation of autonomous vehicle-based transportation systems. This push to get driverless vehicles on the road has jumpstarted local test projects across Japan.

This is not Japan's first testing of AVs. There has been testing in rural areas for connectivity for low-density populations, and it hosted an AV pilot at a shopping mall. Japan has also been playing around with driverless grocery delivery testing. This country even showed off AV taxis at a G7 summit. And, as far as I know, Japan still plans to ferry attendees around in robo-taxis at the 2020 Olympics.