Japanese bus
Japanese bus or subway are incredibly quiet. It is of course forbidden to call or speak loudly in, but most of the time when I take the bus, no one is speaking in the entire bus. This is a total silence.
In my opinion, this silence is quite pleasant. You enter in the bus and can relax for a while.
However, this is quite embarrassing when only the fact of taking his wallet in his bag or preparing his coins is the only sound heard inside the all bus.
Of course, if you take the bus in the afternoon, in the deep city center, the bus could be not so quiet.
Another interesting thing when you take the bus: usually the driver comments every action he's doing : "we are stopping for a while", "we are going to start again, please be careful", "we arrived to ***" ...
When you take the bus you have to bring coins or ￥1000 bills. In the past I didn't know that bus didn't accept ￥5000 bills.
Once, I get in the bus with only a ￥5000 bill, and no more coins at all. So I tried to insert my bill and the machine automatically gave it me back. I've asked the driver why, and he told me that those bills were not accepted. So I told him that at this moment I had only this, so what should I do. He used his mike and asked in all the bus if someone had enough money to change with my ￥5000 bill. I was so shameful!
An adorable elderly person told me she probably had it, and change with me ￥5000 by ￥1000 bills.
I will remember it for a while!!
H.