My Experience Taking the Night Bus from Kyoto to Tokyo

May 7, 2025
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I recently travelled from Kyoto to Tokyo with Willer Express’ nightbus in one of their Relax buses. Here is my full experience, including seating, booking, safety, luggage and more.

I always say night buses are my last choice, however I keep going back to them. I think I have taken one in almost every single country I have travelled to. However, with the Shinkansen, I did not expect to find myself on one in Japan.

I booked my two week Japan trip pretty last minute, after finishing working as a snowboard instructor in Niseko, Northern Japan. It was getting close to cherry blossom season, so everything from accommodation to transportation was expensive.

So, in order to save on one of the very expensive nights in Tokyo, I chose to take the night bus instead of the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo. Willer Express was the one with most international reviews and while it was one the more expensive side due to my late booking, it was still way cheaper than the other alternatives. I chose to go with Willer as they are the most well-known and reviewed, which is really important to me as a solo, female traveller. Looking back, I am sure the other local providers would have had a similar experience.

Here is my full experience on the night bus – please feel free to leave any additional questions in the comments and I will be happy to share more!

Table of Contents

My Experience with the Willer Travel night bus from Kyoto to Tokyo

Booking the bus

I looked at a few different website prior to booking the bus as Willer Express was quite expensive due to me booking very last minute. In the end I went with them anyway as they just had the most information online which is important to me as a solo, female traveller. Otherwise the booking process was straightforward. You choose the bus you want and where you want to get on and off. You are then given a few different bus and seat options.

I would highly recommend booking at least a Relax seat, if not a Prime, Comodo or ReBorn. These seats have a divider between seats for a little more privacy and decent reclination – ReBorn is basically like a bed on a bus. The other normal buses often have no reclination and no privacy, so aren’t ideal for sleeping. For my other female travellers, make sure to get a Ladies policy seat. This is an area of the bus that is solely reserved for women, making the journey super safe.

In addition, I’d recommend a bus that doesn’t leave too late or arrive too early. I left around 10.30pm and arrived at 7am. This to me is just the safest way to travel, rather than in the middle of the night. Also, the less stops the bus has, the less the light gets turned on and announcements are made, so this is something to look out for if you are a lighter sleeper.

You could also consider getting the Japan bus pass from Willer Express – I would only recommend this if you are trying to cover several big distances in a shorter time frame. You can get 3 days of travel within 2 months starting at 10,200 yen.

Website: Willer Express – Relax Seats
Cost: 4,500-7,000yen ($31-48/£23-37)
Travel time: ~9 hours

Getting on the bus

My bus started at Kyoto station G2 platform, which was pretty easy to find. They had a Google Map pin on the website that I could open and follow and even a quick video that helped me check if I was in the right location.

The bus itself arrived a little early and stopped a few metres away from the bus stop, but an attendant came to ask everyone to get on and help us with luggage/tickets. Seats are assigned and my bus was pretty full. We left on time.

Seating on the bus

So I had booked the Relax Seats, unfortunately not in the ladies area as those were sold out. You can choose your seat when booking. The first thing I noticed when sitting down was that the seat was small width-wise. I guess Japanese people often have a smaller build, but I am a pretty average size Western woman and my shoulders were a tight fit in the seat. This has never happened on a night bus to me before.

There was a small wall division between my seat and the one next to me which helped a little bit with privacy. In the end, I sat next to a teen boy which was fine. There was also this head shield/curtain thing that could be pulled down to give more privacy and a little darkness. This was important as the lights would often be turned on and also took ages to be turned off for the night.

One thing that did bother me about my seat was the window curtain. The whole bus had them but at every turn it would hit my leg which got annoying quickly. When I tried tying it up to stop that, the bus driver proceeded to shout at me and untie it, so I suppose that’s a no-go.

Overall, I would probably only book Relax again if I was in the ladies area and I’d try and get one of the better seats such as Comodo for a little more comfort. The relax seats were okay but definitely on the small side. They also only reclined to about 130 degrees.

My experience during the overnight ride

To sum it up, I can’t say I got much sleep on this night bus. We had no toilet so stopped every 2 hours or so and sitting in the front, it was always quite noisy and the light from the front came in when people were moving about the bus.

The driver in the beginning left the bright overlight on for ages which made sleeping impossible. He also made frequent overhead announcements and would even come in the cabin to say something in Japanese (loudly) then bow and start driving again. I’m still not sure what he was telling us but it wasn’t helpful for sleeping.

I also found the seat pretty uncomfortable for sleeping, simply as it was so tight that I couldn’t really move and my legs would frequently bump into my neighbours. For future reference, a better seat further in the back of the bus could help solve a lot of these issues.

As mentioned, we did have very frequent toilet breaks which is good if that’s something you are worried about. Each break station had big toilet rooms, some facilities to buy snacks and drinks and felt safe. You usually got 10-20 minutes on these breaks – the driver announced this in Japanese in my bus, but you could ask him directly when leaving how long the break is (use your hands haha).

Luggage and arrival

We actually arrived around 40 minutes early at my destination station in Tokyo. I chose Ikebukuro as it just worked out best with timings and my hostel location. At arrival, the bus driver once again announced it loudly and then proceeded to take out everyone’s luggage. He was meticulous with this (as always in Japan) and they were stacked so carefully, which I love. All my luggage made it safely.

My overall thoughts on the night bus with Willer Express

I think the night bus is a good way to save money on a hotel and get from one place to the next, however, that’s about it. Sleep-wise, it is definitely one of the worse night buses I have taken.

Especially if your bus has no toilet, you will have very frequent breaks and a lot of movement in the bus, as well as announcements. I also found that all announcement were made only in Japanese, which made the whole ride a little confusing. That being said, this is Japan so they have no obligation to give the English translation. Make sure to download translation apps prior to the ride in case of any issues.

Overall, I did like Willer Express’ ease of booking and the communication prior to departure and it did get my to Tokyo safely and on time. If I’d take it again, I would get a better seat and try and choose a bus that has a toilet on board as well as less overall stops. The less stops, the earlier the lights get turned off and the better your chance of getting some sleep. I do think there are other buses that do the same thing, so if you can find one with better seats for cheaper, I’d just go for that (Check e.g. Kosokubus).

Leave a comment below with any other questions 🙂