Highway Bus Review between Tokyo and Osaka. Better than Bullet Train?

If you have those questions, you just got to the right place.

I’ve traveled from Tokyo to Osaka bu highway bus with 3-row sheets in 2019 and I’m going to cover these topics with my review.

Here is the preview.

Fyi, I tried both the day bus and night bus with 3-row sheets and liked the day bus one.

Price comparison between bullet train and highway bus

The one-way fee is 14,000 yen (about 120USD) which means 240USD for the return ticket.

Ref The ticket fee from Tokyo to Osaka by bullet train(in Japanese)

The highway bus fare depends on the type, day and season.

I booked from Rakuten Travel and it cost me about 6800 yen (55 USD) for the night bus and 6,000yen (50 USD) for the day bus.

Ref Highway Bus, Night Bus booking by Rakuten

How to get the bullet train ticket at the lowest fee?

I searched online a lot but didn’t find any good deals like a huge discount.

However, I found the good package;

With this plan, when you book for a return trip, get one accommodation for free

Ref Hotel and Bullet train package plan | Nippon Travel Agency

It would be best if you have a plan to get a return ticket and book a hotel room.

The highway bus with 3-row sheet review

It was actually more comfortable than I thought.

Here are the pros and cons.

Pros: The seat reclines and you can lay almost flat during the ride

I always have a hard time sleeping on a flight, but somehow I managed to sleep on the night bus.

The seat reclines deep

It’s probably because I reclined my seat until almost flat.

Fyi, everyone in the bus sleep like that so it doesn’t bother anyone behind you.

Pros: You can secure a private space with curtains

To be honest, I didn’t care much about the private space before riding the bus.

But after I got my private space on the bus, I felt really comfortable myself on the bus.

It’s like the difference between the backpacker’s hostel and the capsel hotel.

Pros: You can work with Wi-fi

During the day-bus ride, I wrote on my blog the whole time with Wi-fi.

It was good because focusing on my work was the only thing to do, other than that I sometimes enjoyed the scenery from the window.

Pros: The bus terminal is in convenient locations such as Shinjuku(Tokyo), Namba and Umeda(Osaka).

What I don’t like about Bullet train is to go to Shinagawa or Tokyo station with my suitcase riding Yamanote-line because it’s always crowded.

If you stay in Shinjuku, Namba or Umeda, the high-way bus would be convenient for you.

Cons: If you get the window’s seat on the left side, going to the bathroom is a trouble

With the 3-row seat, the 2 seats on the left side are close next to each other.

One time, I wanted to go to the bathroom from the window’s seat on the left-side and needed to walk through the tiny space which I felt guilty to disturb the other people.

It would have been no problem if I got the seat in the middle or right side.

I sent a request to Rakuten to get me the seat in the middle or right side, but they said they don’t usually accept the request.

Cons: Hard to find the bus terminal

Shinjuku’s bus terminal was easy to spot, but It was hard to find the bus terminal in Umeda, Osaka.

I used the Google map, but it’s not accurate sometimes in Japan.

I would highly recommend you to get there early.

Cons: Might get caught in a traffic jam

Day bus has a risk to get caught in a traffic jam.

I had this experience when I traveled around the summer break season(Obon).

The bus departed around 10 am from Osaka, and got to Shinjuku at 8 pm (was supposed to arrive at 6 pm).

My advice is to avoid the busy season if you take a high-way bus.

Comparison between day bus and night bus

In my opinion, if you have a hard time sleeping on the bus, I wouldn’t recommend taking a night bus.

Tips

There are some buses which stop by some areas such as Yokohama and Kyoto.

If you move from Tokyo to Osaka, you don’t want to choose this one because it takes extra hours to arrive.

Make sure to book the bus which doesn’t have a stopover

Items which are good to bring

It’s the same as flight, but I like bringing the following items;

Neck Pillow

Neck Pillow helps me sleep well because it supports my head.

If it bothers you carrying around, the neck support belt will do the same role.

Back brace

I have chronic back pain and hate sitting on a chair for a long time.

Back brace helps me straighten my back which eases my back pain a bit.

2 Tennis ball

I like massaging my back with 2 tennis balls.

It also helps me straighten my back as well.

Conclusion

If you don’t want to spend your time on transportation, the bullet train would be the first choice but if you have something to work on during the bus ride, day-bus can be a choice.

My advice to avoid Friday and Saturday and the busy season.