New “Flat Sleeper” Bus Will Let Japan Fans See Idols While Skipping Hotels

Kochi Ekimae Kanko - full flat seat design
A new "full flat sleeper" design debuting in March will attempt to make using a night bus for concerts a less tiring experience.

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Hotel prices in Japan are starting to get out of control. That’s leading some fans to seek ways to see their favorite idols and artists in cities like Tokyo while avoiding the city’s extravagant lodging prices. One bus company says it has a unique new solution: a bus whose seats turn into flat beds.

Japan’s night buses have long been a lifeline for fans who want to go see their oshi (推し) perform. According to Nikkei, 51% of night bus use is by fans who want to go to an event or see a live show, such as an idol group.

With hotel prices in Japan going up (and, honestly, the price of everything going up), fans who travel from far away can find themselves in a pickle. They either have to pay out the nose for a room or catch a late bus back and try to nab a few hours of shut-eye.

Bus company Kochi Ekimae Kanko says that starting in March, they’re testing out a new solution: the “full flat seat” bus. The new seat type is a response to customers who say they love the cost savings of night buses but aren’t fans of the exhaustion that comes from a restless night’s shut-eye sitting upright.

上下移動式 新型リクライニングシート “ソメイユ・プロフォン” 誕生!

長距離バス利用者からの要望が高かった フラットシートへの展開が可能な新型リクライニングシートが誕生! 現在、鋭意制作中 今後のサービス展開も準備中です 最新情報は弊社公式ホームページにてお知らせします。

Video showing an early version of the new seat design in action.

Their new seat design, the Sommeil Profond, is a unit of two seats that can be either upright or can be laid flat and turned into sleeper seats. It will be the first full flat seat design ever used in Japan.

Full flat seat - the upright seats convert into a bed
The designs on the company’s website seem to use the old design before the revisions suggested by Japan’s Ministry of Transportation.

The project has been a long time in the making. Last year, in November, Japan’s Ministry of Transportation released guidelines for full flat seat designs aimed at preventing serious injury. This includes using a double-latching seat belt and a foot plate to prevent people from sliding forward in case of an accident.

Japan Ministry of Transportation's guidelines

Kochi Ekimae Kanko says they made changes to their design in response to the Ministry’s guidelines. While the pictures on the company’s site seem to show the old design, recent pictures provided by the company to news outlets show a new design that incorporates several of the Ministry’s recommendations, such as the foot plate.

Kochi Ekimae Kanko "full flat seat" bus design
The old vs. new designs. (Picture: Kochi Ekimae Kanko)

The company says it hasn’t come up with a fee structure for the new seat type but that it will likely be a few thousand yen (tens of US dollars) pricier than a normal seat. That still makes a round-trip bus ride a cheaper alternative to hotels – particularly in this economic climate.

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