Bus Stop
This is how a bus stop would look like in Japan. Each bus stop has a number and a name. In this case, it is bus stop number 3 called Shijo Omiya.
All the bus numbers making the stop will be displayed in the bus stop information. Below is an example of the bus stop information displayed for bus stop number 3. It is called the Shijo Omiya bus stop. Bus number 18, 32,58,71,6,206 and 207 will stop at this station. The destination of each bus number is also listed. For example, bus 18 will head for Toji Temple, and bus 6 will head to the Kyoto Station.
The schedule of each bus will also be displayed at the bus stop.
Below is an example of the time table for bus number 206. The hours are listed vertically and the minutes in the hour are listed horizontally. For bus 206, there are three different time schedules listed in three different columns: Weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays/Holidays.
One Saturday, the first stop will be at 5:56 AM. At 6AM, there will be three stops at 6:27 AM, 6:38 AM and 6:50 AM.
Sometimes the hours displayed are listed in a different format. Below is an example of a JR bus time table. The information tells you when the bus will arrive at this station. Notice the hours are listed horizontally (not vertically like the one above) and the minutes within the hour are listed vertically. For example, the red row lists the hours from 6AM to 10PM (22). There is no stop at 6AM. The first stop in the morning will be at 7:17AM. The second stop will be at 8:08AM. At 9AM, there will be three stops at 9:02AM, 9:17AM and 9:47AM.
Japan Rail Pass
To travel across cities, you will probably need to buy a bullet train pass or the Shinkansen bullet train pass. You will have to specify how many days you want when you buy the pass. It is recommended that you buy the pass before you head to Japan. With this pass, you can reserve for the train ticket to the destination you want. Below is an example of how the pass would look like. It is also called the JR pass. This pass will also allow you to use the JR bus lines wherever they are available.
Once you reserve a seat using your Shinkasen/JR pass, you will get a train ticket for your reservation. To make the reservation, you will have to go to the JR office which can be found in any major train stations. Below is an example of a reserved ticket. This ticket says the train will go from Tokyo to Kyoto on September 22nd at 13.03 or 1PM and arrive at Kyoto at 15.45 or 3:45 PM. The train is Hikart 473. Once you are on the train platform, you should head to cart number 13 and your seat number is 15-E.
Japan Travel App
If you plan to use the bus and train a lot while in Japan, you should download this Japan travel app in IOS. With this app you can plug in your current and destination locations, and it will list all the routes you can take to get to your destination. Each route will give you information about what bus number to take at which bus station, what bus station to get off/hop on next, time the bus will depart or arrive and etc. Another big bonus is if you have a JR pass, it will also tell you what route to take to use only the JR pass to get to your destination without paying anything extra.
