If you plan to travel longer distances such as to other prefectures, highway buses are a viable and cheaper option than trains. There are various highway buses: some travel during daytime and others through the night. The more popular ones are the night buses are those that frequent the route between Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. The night buses (known as Yako bus) are especially popular among the young people and backpackers who are looking to travel on a tight budget. For example, a two-way trip on a daytime bus from Osaka to Okayama costs 4000 yen. A two-way ticket on a night bus between Osaka and Kyushu costs around 10,000 yen. Compare this to the price of a bullet train ticket which costs as much as 9,350 yen for a single trip ticket from Osaka to Kyushu, which means double the price of a night bus.
In this way, although the time taken for a night bus is double that of a bullet train, this is one of the many ways how you are able to cut your transport expenses by half.
Reservations for highway buses and night buses can either be made online, or directly at the Highway Bus Terminal. It is better to make your reservations at least 1-2 weeks in advance as the seats sold out rather fast, especially during the school vacations.
Highway buses normally start off by travelling to a few major stops to pick up passengers before embarking on its journey. Tickets may vary slightly depending on the type of seats (normal vs reclining for more comfort), the number of rows (2 or 3), and whether or not toilets are available on board. For night buses that do not come with toilets, there will be a stopover at rest houses once every 2-3 hours along the way.
For more information about train transportation, read here.
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