Transportation: the Bus (バス）

Hello, Everyone! Welcome to the first actual content post on our blog! Today we’ll be talking about buses. A topic I wanted to write on since Bridget and I first decided to start this website, two weeks ago. As you can probably imagine, my Japanese classwork had other plans for me. But now I’m here and I’ll tell you everything I know, mostly from experience.

Now, as someone who’s gone to high school in Warsaw, I am quite familiar with both the concept and practice of public transport. Since coming to Texas, where it doesn’t exist (technically, it does a little, but not where I’m at), I have come to greatly appreciate it. Something I haven’t always done when it was snowy, cold and the train was 30 minutes late. However, it turns out that, if you’re in a country where you barely speak the language and can maybe read a third of the relevant signs, you may run into some issues. To say the least.

In this post I want to concentrate on just buses. I’ll eventually get around to the incredibly efficient train and subway system Nagoya has, in another post. In fact, if you ever need to take the public transport in Japan, the railways are a pretty safe bet. However, on the off chance you need to take the bus in Japan, here are some things you should be aware of.

Firstly, they tend not to go straight.

By which I mean, instead of going in as straight a line between point A and B, buses in Japan tend to take the scenic route. They meander their way through the narrow little roads to cover the biggest radius on their way to their final destination. To quote a professor at Nanzan, you might want to double check the route if you’re going to take the city bus, because the one that seems to be going north might not actually be going north at all.

Secondly, if you’ve double checked and made sure that the bus is eventually going to take you where you want to go, you need to figure out how long it will take you.

Buses in Japan are slow. They are not going to get you anywhere in record time. Worse, buses, unlike trains and subways, are subject to traffic even in Japan. Whereas the railways in Nagoya run on a strict schedule that means the train/subway is always on time, buses can and do run late.

Case in point is the bus I take to Nagoya. You see, my host family actually lives in Nagoya’s suburbs, in places the subway doesn’t go. To get to Akaike Station (赤池駅、あかいけえき) I have to take the Meitetsu Bus (名鉄バス、めいてつ). A bus that has already made me late in the two weeks of classes I’ve had so far, twice. And quite frankly if I never have to explain to Isoyama Sensei why I’m late again, it would be too soon.

Fortunately, because this is Japan, there is a little note you can get from the bus driver, called a certificate of lateness (遅延証明、ちえんしょうめい). This little slip, pre-filled out except for the date and the delay time, is an official document that you can request to show to your teacher or boss, if you are ever late. But, as everyone else is on time, a better idea is to not be late. By which I mean, take the earlier bus or hope that the bus suddenly gains in the punctuality department.

That unfortunately, is unlikely to happen with the bus I take, since it’s a bus that goes between Akaike and Toyota City (豊田市、とよたし). And yes, folks, that is the Toyota from the car company. (That’s were the headquarters are. It means bountiful field, by the way.) Since the bus takes the usual commuters route plus extra detours to pick up passengers, it’s always late. Especially if it rains. Which since this is Japan, it does that a lot.

So, you’ve figured out both which bus to take and when to take it.

Which brings us to three: buses are privately owned in Japan, which is to say, they are expensive.

That’s not to say that the subway isn’t, because this is Japan and everything expensive. Though at least the subways in Nagoya have student discounts. Meitetsu bus does not. The month long pass I bought for the bus cost only a couple hundred yen less than the three month pass for the subway. And I can get off at way more stops at the subway.

Because, unlike in Warsaw where you have zones, in Japan you literally pay for the route you will be taking in your seasonal pass. (Not to mention pay separately for every mode of transport.) So, if you go beyond the prepaid stations, say because you’ve zoned out and missed the stop, you have to pay the difference manually. Which is 170 yen right there. My advice is to pay attention.

That brings me to another point, seasonal passes are expensive, but paying as-you-go is even more so when you take the bus and subway everyday. 350 yen each way for just the bus is going to add up very quickly.

The seasonal passes make use of something called a Manaca card. Which is basically a commuters card (with a few added functions) on which you can either put long term tickets or money, if you want to pay as-you-go. Or both.

However, if you don’t want to get one, don’t worry because you don’t actually have to have a ticket for the bus before you get on it. In Japan, bus tickets are bought on the bus. You pick it up from the dispensing machine at the entrance on the bus and then pay for the amount of stops you took at the exit once you’re getting off.

The fourth part of today’s post is actually riding the bus.

Before you do so, I recommend that you learn to recognize and read the kanji of both your destination and the route. Because while Japan is pretty good at using the romaji (a.k.a. Latin alphabet) on their public transport signs, they don’t always cover all the bases. So it might happen that on the little electronic sign on the bus, they only have the kanji and hiragana. Or just the kanji.

Anyways, once you’ve identified your bus by the kanji, it’s time to get on. Japanese buses have one entrance. This may come as a shock to those of us who are used to sprinting in through the closest door, but in Japan you only get on through the door in the middle. You scan your card, or pick up a ticket, and take a seat. Or remain standing.

However, if you do sit down, you should remain sitting until the bus stops! Otherwise, you’ll probably get very politely yelled at by the driver, to please honorably remain in your seat until the bus has come to a stop. Which everyone in the bus will hear, because the driver will be wearing a mike that he uses to narrate the trip. はい、止まります. 曲がります. And so on and so forth.

Now, if you’ve taken a ticket, you should pay attention to the screen in the front of the bus. On it you’ll see rows of little boxes, where numbers in the hundreds will start appearing. Those show the amount of money the trip from any of the previous stations costs, if you get off at the next stop. It’s probably a good idea to get the money ready in advance. If you don’t, you’ll have to endure the shady looks the annoyed bus driver throws at you as you scramble to get the coins together.

On the note of getting off, once your stop has been announced as the next one, you have to press the stop button. They are found on all the posts in the bus. This kanji, 止まる (to stop), should be on it. Unlike Warsaw, there are no mandated stops on the Japanese bus; they are all on demand. Which means, if no one presses the button for your destination, then the bus might not stop! So press the button! You do not want to pay that 170 yen the extra kilometer or so is gonna cost you.

After you’ve pressed the button, and the bus has stopped, it’s time to get off. You do so at the front, where the exit is. As you walk off, there is a machine where you can either scan your Manaca card or drop of the ticket and the exact amount you owe. If you need to make change there is a change maker in the front part of the machine. So, don’t throw too much in the actually payment slot! The bus driver will likely reimburse you, while giving you a pointed explanation how to use the change maker, but you’ll feel stupid.

Congratulations! You’ve just took your first bus ride in Japan, (Or, you know, read the walk through.)

I have one final thing to say about lines. Japanese people love them. I will eventually make a blog post just about them, but here’s something you should know relating to buses. If there’s a bunch of people waiting on a bus, they will automatically start forming a line, even if the bus is nowhere in sight. Once it does arrive, they will calmly file onto the bus. When the bus has reached it’s final destination, they will all file off the bus. So, if you’re in a rush, I suggest you stand/sit in the front of the bus.

That’s all I have to say about buses (for now). I hope you enjoyed reading about my hard earned wisdom. I’ll be uploading the next post sometime next week. Any questions or post topic suggestions are welcome! Till next time!