Bus Trip - Part 1

I was invited to visit a friend who lives in Osaka. Most Japanese prefer to travel by shinkansen, the ultra-fast bullet trains. These, however, are quite expensive, often costing over $100 one way. Another option, which has been increasing in popularity recently, is the highway bus. The whole trip (return) cost less than a one-way shinkansen ticket.

I booked two separate legs for my journey: Kanagawa --> Nagoya, Nagoya ---> Osaka. The bus stopped frequently, about every two hours, at a rest stop. Expasa is a popular rest stop (there are numerous Expasa shops in Japan), which usually house Starbucks, ice cream, famous fast food and convenience stores, etc.

Expasa:

The highlight is using the toilet. Really! Tourists always rave about the all-automatic, completely private, toilet stalls in Japan. So I snuck a photo for my readers....(laugh)

About halfway through the journey, we stopped at Hamanako (Lake Hamanako), in Shizuoka prefecture. The day was perfect, and the view even better....

Finally, after 5.5 hours, we arrived in Nagoya in Aichi prefecture. You can see Nagoya TV tower in the background:

I had only 10 minutes to change buses here, but luckily my bus to Osaka was parked and waiting for our bus. I'll blog about the second leg next time.

A one way JR highway bus ticket from Kanagawa to Nagoya Station costs about ¥4,200. Tickets can be booked online. You can print and pay for the tickets at any Lawson convenience store. JR highway bus site is HERE. (Kanto region, in English)