Rural buses in Japan: the numbered ticket, the fare board, and exact change

Outside the big cities, the bus to the shrine, the onsen or the trailhead often runs on an older system than your IC card. That system is a paper slip and a lit board above the driver. Once you can read both, the ride is simple.

Take a slip as you board

On most regional routes you get on by the middle or rear door. A small machine there pushes out a numbered slip, the 整理券 (seiriken), and a recorded voice says seiriken o o-tori kudasai, asking you to take one. The number marks the stop where you got on. Without it, the driver may charge you the fare from the start of the line.

整理券をお取りください。

Read the fare board

Above the windscreen hangs the 運賃表 (unchin-hyō), a grid of numbers with a yen amount under each one. Find the number on your slip. The amount beneath it is what you owe, and it goes up at every stop.

Pay at the front, in exact coins

Press a stop button once the next stop is announced. At your stop, walk forward and drop the slip and the exact fare into the box beside the driver, which gives no change. A slot marked 両替 (ryōgae) breaks a 1,000-yen note into coins, but many refuse 5,000- and 10,000-yen notes, so break large notes at a conbini before a day of rural buses. Use the slot only while the bus is stopped.

Where your IC card fits

Many regional operators now take Suica-type cards. On those routes, touch the reader at the rear door when you get on and the one by the driver when you get off. Skip the first touch and the system cannot work out your fare. A few networks take only their own local card, so carry ¥1,000 in coins anyway.