JR Bus

JR Bus collectively refers to the bus operations of Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies in Japan. JR Bus is operated by eight regional companies, each owned by a JR railway company. JR Bus companies provide regional, long distance, and chartered bus services.

List of companies

Bus company	Operation area	Parent company
JR Hokkaido Bus Company	Hokkaidō region	Hokkaido Railway Company
JR Bus Tohoku Company	Tōhoku region	East Japan Railway Company
JR Bus Kanto Company	Kantō region	East Japan Railway Company
JR Tokai Bus Company	Tōkai region	Central Japan Railway Company
West Japan JR Bus Company	Hokuriku region, Kansai region	West Japan Railway Company
Chugoku JR Bus Company	Chūgoku region	West Japan Railway Company
JR Shikoku Bus Company	Shikoku region	Shikoku Railway Company
JR Kyushu Bus Company	Kyūshū region	Kyushu Railway Company

History

The Ministry of Railways of Japan started its first bus operation in Aichi Prefecture in 1930 and gradually expanded bus routes. The Japanese National Railways (JNR), public corporation established in 1949, succeeded the bus operations, then called Kokutetsu Bus or JNR Bus. In 1987, JNR was divided into regional railway companies together with its bus operations. JR companies later separated their bus operations to subsidiaries in 1988 (JR East, JR Central, JR West), 2000 (JR Hokkaido), 2001 (JR Kyushu) and 2004 (JR Shikoku).