Tesla Japan Still Going 100% for FSD Before 2026 Ends

Tesla car using FSD Supervised on a Japanese road

Image: Tesla

Tesla Japan is still aiming to launch FSD Supervised in Japan before 2026 is over, and its president says the company is pushing for that target at “100%.”

That’s according to an interview with Tesla Japan president Riichi Hashimoto published by Nikkei on October 19. Asked about skepticism that a year-end green light is realistic, Hashimoto said the decision is not Tesla’s alone, so it is difficult, but the company is making maximum effort to get as close as possible to a full 2026 launch.

“We will make maximum effort so we can do it 100%,” Hashimoto told Nikkei, in the paper’s account of the interview. He tied the timeline to safety and to talks with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and other agencies, rather than a rush to deregulate.

Public-road testing of FSD Supervised in Japan started in August 2025, and by March Tesla had expanded the Tokyo program and kept the end-2026 commercial target on the record. We covered that Tokyo testing push when Model Y joined the earlier Model 3 runs. FSD Supervised remains a driver-supervised system: the car can steer, brake and accelerate, and the human still has to stay attentive.

Japan is a harder map than many FSD markets. Narrow streets, roads under elevated expressways and local traffic rules all need more training miles before regulators sign off. Elsewhere, Tesla has kept expanding supervised approvals, including a recent Slovakia clearance, while Japan’s transport ministry still holds the final key.

Hashimoto did not give a new calendar date beyond 2026, and Tesla has not posted a matching Japan FSD update on its global channels alongside the Nikkei interview. Until MLIT and the other agencies say yes, Japanese owners are still waiting on that over-the-air switch.

With only a couple of months left in the year, does “100% effort” still get FSD Supervised onto Japanese roads in 2026?

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