Agri AI Summit | 30 Sep 2026
https://www.agri-ai-summit.com/news/japan-lets-driverless-tractors-leave-the-farm
A driverless tractor in Japan has needed a driver to travel on a public road. In 19 municipalities in Hokkaido’s Tokachi region, that requirement is now being relaxed through national strategic special-zone rules for artificial intelligence farming.
Japan’s government approved the designation on Thursday, 10 September. According to Jiji Press, robot tractors will be allowed to travel without anyone aboard when they form a convoy with a manned vehicle. The exemption changes who must occupy each tractor, while keeping a human-operated vehicle in the convoy.
Public-road access is only part of the package. Procedures for spraying pesticides with drones will also be simplified, and communications infrastructure requirements for unmanned operations will be eased. Together, the measures cover movement between sites, aerial spraying and the infrastructure needed to support operations without an onboard operator.
Until this designation, every autonomous tractor using public roads had to carry an operator. The Tokachi decision is also the first use of the special-zone system specifically for AI farming. An earlier designation in Niigata allowed farmers to open restaurants on farmland, a different application of the same policy mechanism.
Local leaders welcomed the decision. Obihiro Mayor Yosuke Ueno expressed appreciation for Tokachi’s selection as a demonstration site for AI farming. His response focused on the region’s proposed role in testing agricultural technology under the special-zone rules.
Work has already begun, with a Cabinet Office survey and demonstration project starting in September. A symposium is planned in Obihiro for November. For now, the policy’s practical boundary is clear: unmanned tractors may take to designated public roads, provided they travel alongside a manned vehicle.