This week's "NHK Special," entitled "Kosoku Basu Senso (Highway Bus Wars)" (NHK-G, Monday, 10 p.m.), looks at the fierce competition that has arisen in the tourism and transportation industries since deregulation in 2000 opened the market to hundreds of new bus companies.
The special report focuses on an accident that occurred in Osaka earlier this year, in which a night bus carrying skiers ran off the road. The driver had been working for seven hours straight and dozed off. According to regulations, a backup driver must be on board, but the backup person in this case, the driver's brother, was not even old enough to drive. The brother was the only person who died in the crash.
The accident highlights the cost-cutting competition among small bus companies, who are under pressure from the tour companies that hire them to keep fees down.