Daihatsu Launches Goissho Shared Nursing-Care Ride Service in Osaka's Abeno Ward
Daihatsu's Goissho shared nursing-care pick-up/drop-off service started full operations on August 1, 2026, serving four care facilities in Osaka's Abeno Ward.
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What Happened
Daihatsu announced on August 3, 2026, that its welfare and nursing care shared pick-up/drop-off service 'Goissho' began full-scale operations on August 1, 2026, in Abeno Ward, Osaka City. The deployment is led by social welfare corporation Ikutokuen and serves four nursing care facilities run by three different organizations. Called 'Goissho Ikutoku,' this is Daihatsu's first advanced operational model of the service and its third full-scale deployment in Japan, following Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, and Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture.
Ikutokuen has long used Daihatsu's RAKUPITA SOGEI transportation management system to improve efficiency. In December 2024, the two organizations started a pilot program for joint transportation between two Ikutokuen facilities, verifying operational methods and safety management. That experience helped Ikutokuen build a stable operational framework, which led to expanding the program to facilities run by other organizations in the surrounding area.
- Joint transportation within facilities operated by a single organization.
- Joint transportation among four facilities run by three organizations, with Ikutokuen as operating entity.
Daihatsu and Ikutokuen began a pilot program for joint transportation between two Ikutokuen facilities.
Full-scale Goissho Ikutoku operations began among four nursing care facilities in Abeno Ward, Osaka City.
250passenger trips
Under the Goissho Ikutoku program across four nursing care facilities.
- Improve vehicle and staff utilization while reducing the burden of transportation operations.
- Address regional challenges such as shortages of care workers and securing transportation options for elderly residents.
- Explore collaboration with other community stakeholders to establish a sustainable framework for nursing care services.
- Daihatsu says it will continue to contribute to local communities and support a sustainable mobility society.
Why this matters
By pooling rides across nursing-care facilities, Goissho aims to use vehicles and staff more efficiently and reduce the load on care workers. This is the first Goissho model to span multiple organizations, and it is meant to help communities like Osaka's Abeno Ward that struggle with care-worker shortages and limited transport options for elderly residents.
Terms in This Story
- Shared pick-up/drop-off service
- A ride service that combines trips for multiple passengers traveling to and from destinations such as nursing care facilities.
- Social welfare corporation
- A non-profit organization in Japan that operates public welfare services such as care for the elderly and people with disabilities.
- Transportation management system
- Software that helps plan, schedule, and monitor vehicles used to carry passengers or goods.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.