The Tokyo metropolitan government will begin a trial 24-hour bus service between Roppongi and Shibuya from early Saturday morning.
The buses will operate hourly from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. on Saturday mornings only. The fare will be 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for children.
A decision on whether to expand the service will depend on how many people use the buses.
Tokyo metropolitan government officials believe that having a 24-hour transportation service, encompassing all buses, subways and trains, will be essential before and during the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
However, subway and rail operators say they need the time between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to perform maintenance on trains, tracks and tunnels.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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nath
This will be very convenient....mainly for all the girls working in 'mizushoubai'!
HCKpro
So then it's a bar hopping "taxi" service?
borax
Not much, but it's a start.
Graham DeShazo
Kids fare will be 200???? Even in my worst moments I would never be stupid enough to take my kids at that time to those locations.
On the up side, there is now a cost-effective option for the bar girls to shuttle their clients to the "after party."
lesenfant
finally..
rickyvee
what kids are going to be riding around from 1-5 in the morning? and from roppongi to buya? i can only imagine high school girls with short skirts and loose socks (and loose morals).
taj
Why bother, if we can't dance?
Pandabelle
Roppongi to Shibuya is only a few km, it's a cheap taxi ride. I don't understand the point of this bus.
Scrote
Great, a 24/1 bus service on one route. It's almost as if they want it to fail.
Why is it not possible to run an after-hours bus service following the main railway lines? Would the Japanese become "confused" if buses had the same routes as trains?
Mirai Hayashi
Convenient, but I would hate to ride an overcrowded, alcohol stench filled bus that late at night.
paulinusa
1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on SUNDAY morning would make more sense to me.
Mirai Hayashi
First of all, Roppongi and Shibuya are party hotspots, so it makes perfect sense to have a late night bus that runs between the two locations. And from Shibuya, they can fan out to other locations like Shinjuku etc... so this makes plenty of sense for party goers.
Secondly, there are plenty of bus and train companies that will be offering late night services over the holidays. Some of the train lines have buses that run along the same line, some don't. To run a bus on top of every train line in Tokyo wouldn't be profitable and it would be a traffic nightmare.
sf2k
why would people who need a bus from 1am to 5am on a Saturday have anything do to with normal hours? The success of one would have nothing to do with the other
rickyvee
if these places are such hotspots, then wouldn't it make more sense to have bus routes from the suburbs to them instead of to each other? bus routes from shinjuku, ikebukuro and yokohama to both pongi and buya would serve a better purpose.
and if i paid 3,500 yen to get into a club in one "hotspot" there's probably not a chance i'm going to leave that club to go to another "hotspot."
Elbuda Mexicano
Do hope these buses have toilets!! And plenty of barf bags because if I know my fellow gaijin and J party animals ! Yes! Better bring a few Hefty plastic garbage bags just in case you can't hold your liquor!! Kanpai??
Mirai Hayashi
@rickyvee
No it doesn't make sense because there are already train lines that run to roppongi and shibuya. There is however, no train line that runs directly from Roppongi to Shibuya, so a late night bus makes a lot of sense. Also, roppong only has two subway lines whereas Shibuya has the Yamanote, Toyoko, Inokashira, Fukutoshin, and Ginza lines which will basically take you anywhere you need to go, so Shibuya would act as a hub for those who party in places like Roppongi
Its not just clubs...its karaoke, bars, bowling, arcades , restaurants etc....and people like to hop around from place to place, especially when some of these places have time limits on how long you can stay.
sighclops
This is for the workers, unfortunately. Who wants a Saturday morning service? What about Sunday morning?! Uh... hello?!
DiscoJ
@Mirai Hayashi There are no train lines running to/from the suburbs between 1am and 5am. For someone who is out late in Shibuya and/or Roppongi but then actually wants to go home (e.g. at 2:30am), how would this bus service help?
London's extensive night bus network is so useful because it will actually get you home whilst it's still dark.
Knox Harrington
Wouldn't want to be the driver on that bus.
Ah, gotta love Japan.
toto_kiboko
Why not introduce an all night free bus ride to anywhere in Tokyo on New Yeae Eve past midnight as they do in London?
kickboard
knox, of course kids will not ride the bus. They just set a fare because they have to. Would you rather they made a new law banning kids from riding late night buses?