Japanese Overnight Buses





History of Japanese overnight buses

Started between the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s


The Moon Light bus which operates between Osaka and Fukuoka (Hankyu Bus)  

Began in March 1983, but replaced to three independent seats per row in 1986.

The Nocturne bus which operates between Tokyo Shinagawa-Yokohama and Hirosaki (Keihin Kyuko Bus) 

The "Nocturne" route, set up Tokyo to the Tohoku region in 1986, and after a few years, overnight buses rapidly developed nationwide.

Newly started services (After 1995~)

The Crystal Liner bus which operates Osaka, Kyoto and Kofu (Yamanashi Kotsu) 

This service connects the Kansai area to the Yamanashi Prefecture. It was started in September 2000.

 

 

The Osaka, Kyoto ‹–› Toyama service, operated by Toyama Chiho Railway 

This route was withdrawn in February 2001, however it was revived in December 2003 in co-operation with the Hankyu Bus company.

 

 

 

 

Brief history to an Japanese overnight bus

The history of overnight buses is not very old; the Japan National Railways (JR) was operated Dream buses between Tokyo and Osaka since the 1960s but mainly began from the 1980s.
In March 1983 the Moon Light service was connected with Osaka to Fukuoka, and in December 1986 the Nocturne service began between Tokyo and Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. Since then, number of overnight buses have increased, due to the extension of expressways spreading out nationwide, the fare is cheaper than other means of transport (domestic airlines and trains) and luxurious passenger services such as independent seats offering, served coffee, Japanese tea, hot and cold water and juice, also equipped with multiple audios to listen to music and video movies to watch movies in the seat, toilet and telephone are also available.

However, after 1993, these services were hugely influenced by the depression of the Japanese economy and, more recently, domestic airline and train fares were reduced, thus many number of these services were stopped, and were joined with other routes, companies such as Tokyu Bus in Tokyo, Sagami Railway and Kanagawa Chuo Kotsu in Kanagawa Prefecture were entirely withdrawn. However, there are several newly started routes e.g. between Osaka and Kofu, Osaka and Yamagata, and Nagoya and Tokyo Disney Land etc, presently 100 companies operate overnight buses and about 140 routes exist nationwide.

 Several good points of using an overnight bus

Lowest fares

Overnight buses have several great advantages. For example, when you buy discounted round trip tickets, the amount of a round trip discount is nearly an equivalent amount of the one-way cost of Shinkansen and airplanes. In addition, you can save your money for a night’s accommodation. 

However, presently a huge number of passengers and services have decreased due to various discount fares available within limited periods of time on domestic airlines.

  Bus stops are located conveniently

Because overnight buses stop and pick up passengers from several major places within each city, so it’s easy to get on the bus from these places where rail is inconvenient.

The bus goes straight to downtown without transfer

Airports are generally located inconveniently (except Fukuoka and some other cities). To take trains and buses from the airport, but takes much longer in some cities. However, buses go straight to downtown without transfer, so are very convenient.

You’ll be able to spend a great deal of time efficiently

Actually, airplanes and Shinkansen are fast, but are not operated at night. When boarding an airplane, you’ll take a long time boarding and often time is wasted during procedure security check.
Overnight buses take long time when moving from one place to another, but are able to use the time efficiently. These buses arrive to destinations early the next morning, so you’ll be able to spend a great deal of time at that particular destination. For example when you’re meeting with your friends at your destination, you can stay there until the bus is leaving... this merit is a great deal for choosing buses.

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You can find these buses on the Internet.

You can find these bus schedules on the web. However, some companies don’t offer this yet and most companies provide information in Japanese only.
The following companies have information in English on the web.
  • JR bus Kanto (From Tokyo and Shinjuku Stations to several major cities) 

  • Shin Joban Kotsu (From Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture to Kyoto, Osaka)

  • The Alpico Group (Kawanakajima Bus and Matsumoto Electric Railway; From Nagano, Matsumoto to Kyoto, Osaka)

  • Nishi Nippon Railroad (the Nishitetsu Group; From Fukuoka, Kitakyushu to several major cities)


  • In addition, you can get free copies of overnight bus timetables at terminals of each operated company. These are written in details including time and stops, once you go to the terminal check these timetables. Perhaps you can find a lot of information about these buses.

    Important notice:

    Above information is normally available in Japanese only. If you want to get information on these buses in English, please ask major travel agencies (JTB, Kinki Nippon Tourist, Nippon Travel Agency, Tokyu Travel etc) for more details.