Paying Too Much for the Bus

While the train is very convenient in Japan, it doesn't reach everywhere. For places somewhat far from the train station, there are often buses running to serve those areas. In Nara, buses are operated by Nara Kotsu.

As opposed to some other bus I've taken in Japan where the payment system is either before paying before getting on the bus (flat-rate) or paying before getting off (distance-based), the payment system here is distance-based, but you either pay before getting on or before getting off based on the direction you're taking. The rule is that for buses from train stations, you pay when getting off and for buses to train stations, you pay when getting on. I suppose that this is done to avoid bottleneck at the train station where a lot of people get on or off.

Now, let's move to the main topic. I was taking the bus from my university to the train station, which meant that I had to tell the driver where I was getting off and he would tell the machine to deduct the correct fare from my IC card. However, I touched the IC card without telling him (rather, I thought the machine would deduct the same fare as my friend who already told him the destination), and so the full fare was deducted.

On the bright side, I now know what happens when the incorrect fare is deducted. The driver basically issued a note saying that the company over-collected the fare and I can either use that note to board another bus or go to the office to get my money back.

Taking the Night Bus (Willer Express)

As promised last week, today, I will write about taking the night bus. While the Shinkansen is very convenient, it is also very expensive. On my last trip to Tokyo, I've decided to save money by taking the night bus. Taking the night bus also allowed me to spend two whole days in Tokyo since all the traveling was done at night.

As a foreigner with a temporary visitor visa, I am entitled to buy the Willer Bus Pass. For 10,000 yen, I am allowed to take the buses of my choice for 3 days (does not have to be consecutive!) Note that there are certain rules limiting the buses you can take, but they should not yet in your way for normal usage. To put things in perspective, taking the Shinkansen for this trip would have costed me 30,000 yen, with or without the JR Pass.

Buying the pass and booking the ride was very easy, as everything could be done on their English website. The booking system is ticket-less and the bus driver has a list of passengers. You only need to tell them your name when boarding. One thing to note is that, for some bus, seat selection is not possible and your seat will be assigned by the system. If you've booked in groups, you will be automatically seated next to each other. Males and females are also never seated next to each other except if they are in the same group.

The bus terminal with seats for passengers waiting for the bus.
There is no need to check in here, you simply need
to walk to the bus and board when it arrives.

The busses waiting outside

Inside the bus

Once you've boarded the bus, the monitor will show the destination and certain etiquette rules will be played. If I remember correctly, the description is provided in Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese.

Instead of a safety manual, there is an etiquette manual.

The "relax" series seat. The seat can also be reclined quite far.

At first, all lights will remain on. After all the passengers are picked up from the various pick up points, the bright light will be turned off. The remaining light will be turned off after stopping at the first service area. There are also thick curtains to prevent lights from outside from getting in.

Talking about service area, the bus will stop at service area for toilet breaks every approximately two to three hours. The toilets at the service areas are unexpectedly very clean (compared to Thai toilets) and you can also buy souvenirs at the shops there. The stop at each service area lasts for approximately 20 minutes. Protip: Don't bother booking a bus with a toilet because it will stop at service areas anyway.

One of the service areas

When you get down, you will be given a card with the bus' plate number.

Overall, the bus ride was more comfortable than I had expected. I normally find it very difficult to sleep on busses or planes, but I have managed to sleep without much issue. Of course, it isn't as good as sleeping on a bed at home or at a hotel, but it was one of the most comfortable nights I've spent in a vehicle.

Taking the Shinkansen (and getting cheaper tickets)

Last weekend, I took the Shinkansen down to Hiroshima for sight-seeing. While it's not my first time riding the Shinkansen, it's the first time that I've booked it and handled the entire process by myself.

The easiest way to get a Shinkansen ticket is to walk into a ticketing office and ask the staff to handle it for you. While you can reserve your ticket up to one month in advance, most of the time, it is also OK to buy the ticket just before you travel. There are 3 main types of tickets: free-seating, fixed-seating and green seats. Free-seating is the cheapest and only allows you to ride the non-reserved section of the train (if there's no seat, then you have to stand.). Fixed-seating allows you to choose your seat in advance, so you're guaranteed to have a seat. Green seats are premium-level seats.

However, there are ways to get cheaper tickets. Buying tickets from shops outside can help you save a bit of money. As can be seen in the picture below, my trip from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima was discounted from 10,440 yen to 9,800 yen. The way these shops work is that they buy ticket packs (回数券) from JR and sell them individually with a mark-up of 100 to 200 yen per ticket. One ticket is for one way only, so you have to buy two. Note that JR sell these tickets in pack of six, so if you're traveling in groups of three, it is more economical to buy them directly from JR.

The shop will give you a ticket with no seat or date selected yet (the bottom tickets in the picture). You will then need to go to a JR station to select your date and seat at either the green automatic machine or the ticketing office. After you have picked your seat, you will receive the seat ticket, which you will need to use together with your first ticket (which I will call "base fare ticket").

In the above example, the base fare ticket covers the distance from anywhere in Osaka city to anywhere in Hiroshima city. Which means that, even though the Shinkansen leaves from Shin-Osaka, if you want to get in the JR system from anywhere in Osaka, you do not need to pay the fare from the station you got on to Shin-Osaka. The same applies for your destination.

The way to use the ticket is as follows. First, at the station you want to travel from, use the base fare ticket to get on to the JR train and travel to Shin-Osaka. Then, without exiting the JR system, find the Shinkansen gate use both the base fare ticket and the seat ticket stacked on top of each other to get past the Shinkansen gate.

Once you're inside the Shinkansen area, buy an Ekiben (a lunch box bought at a train station) if you want and hop on the train. If you miss a train, don't worry, you can ride on the next train using the unreserved section.

The inside of the train is very well-decorated. The seats are rotatable in case you're traveling in a large group. Some snacks are sold on-board, but it's better to buy them from the station if you need them. A power socket is also provided in case you need to charge your mobile phone.

Finally, after arriving at your destination, use both tickets to get past the Shinkansen gate and you will get your base fare ticket back (with the time of entering and exiting the Shinkansen area recorded). You can then continue your travel on JR lines or use your base fare ticket to exit from the station.

Overall, the Shinkansen is a very fast and convenient way of traveling, albeit a little bit expensive. Compared to air travel, the Shinkansen has many advantages. First, you do not have to go through extensive security checks and spend many hours waiting at the airport. Seasoned travelers might even reach the Shinkansen station only a few minutes before the Shinkansen leaves! Second is that you can use your mobile phones and electronic devices on board without any restrictions. Finally, Shinkansen tickets are very flexible. If there are any changes to your plan, as long as the departure time has not yet passed, you can change your ticket, often without paying any fee at all. On my trip back from Hiroshima, I've moved my ticket one hour earlier because the sightseeing finished earlier than expected.

That's it for today! This weekend, I will be traveling to Tokyo by night bus and I will be blogging about it next week (if the trip doesn't get canceled because of the Neoguri typhoon.)