Any Bus, Anywhere in Japan for Foreign Tourists
Somebody anxious to boost inbound tourism came up with an idea to sell express bus tickets for foreign tourists to ride any bus, anywhere in Japan. A cool idea. I have an episode you folks might enjoy.
Sixty bus companies have all agreed an express bus ticket to chain-ride their express buses covering 100 bus lines across the nation starting September. As I see it, this is one crafty means of making up for the gradually shrinking bus transport market. Would this pay off?
The express bus companies are all confident it would. Osaka's Willer Express Japan, Keiko Railways-affliated bus lines, JR bus and others have a council, Japan Bus Lines Council, already set up to expedite the idea.
The council plans to issue two passes for one-week (20000 yen) and two-week (28000 yen) available through its homepage. To help touring foreigners get around, the council will advise member bus lines to straighten out English signboards - Station or Sta. instead of "Eki", for instance. Various pictograms are adopted to provide the non-Japanese tourists with visual guidance on Wi-Fi accessibility, reclining accommodations, etc.
The council introduced last September its express bus reservation site for visiting foreign tourists but it has so far been accessed by only 4000. The council is looking for 370 thousand foreign tourists to access the site and an aggregate bus tour revenue of 1.5 billion yen in 2019.
That said, there are plenty other hitches in running such a plan to the satisfaction of visiting tourists. The most pressing, of course, has to do with language problems: the overall population of English-speaking attendants too few and whether or not local hotel accommodations are capable of handling the influx of 370 thousand inbound tourists.
That aside, I've asked around my associates if they will pay 20000 yen for one-week express bus free to ride anywhere in Japan. Trust me - they all said "a good bargain". So, folks, take advantage of it when you come visit us. (Nathan Shiga)