Highway Bus from Tokyo to Kumamoto

I want to take the Highway Bus from Tokyo to Kumamoto but am not sure where to go to purchase the tickets. I want to depart from Tokyo on Oct 26 or 27. Thank you in advance for any help.

There are no direct buses. Too distant! Instead, you could take an overnight bus to Fukuoka (http://willerexpress.com/) and continue from there. Or fly Jetstar Japan with its very cheap fares:
http://www.jetstar.com/jp/en/home

Thank you. I checked the web site for the bus and found it to be too confusing for me to deal with. If I go directly to the bus station, will they be able to route me to Kumamoto? I want to ride the bus so that I can see the sights. BTW, how often does the bus stop (rest areas)?

Most of the buses are overnight buses, meaning you're not going to be able to "see the sights" on them anyway. Tokyo to Kumamoto is about 13 hours direct by car, but the buses don't work like that. I think you'd have to go to Osaka (I don't even see Fukuoka as an option from Tokyo), then Osaka to Fukuoka, Fukuoka to Kumamoto maybe by train. Buses stop every 2 hours, but as its a night bus, you're usually trying to sleep, so most people don't get off. I've done a night bus once, and would not do it again.

It is cheaper and faster to fly, or if you want to actually see anything, get a rail pass and take the shinkansen down.

Willer does not do Tokyo to Fukuika, but Nishitetsu does.

http://www.nishitetsu.jp/bus/highwaybus/rosen2/hakata.html

Sorry, the Tokyo-Fukuoka bus is not by Willer. It is by Nishitetsu and Keio, and you will most likely not be able to understand their website, either:
http://www.nishitetsu.jp/bus/highwaybus/rosen2/hakata.html

But as mentioned by scarreddragon, the overnight buses will not provide you with any views of the scenery. And daytime bus travel would probably take two full days (Tokyo-Osaka, Osaka-Fukuoka, Fukuoka-Kumamoto).

Thank you all for the information. I checked out the other web sites but they were just as confusing to me.
Guess the best thing to do is to go to Shinjuku and see if I can catch a bus to Osaka or Hiroshima. I just want to ride the Highway bus in Japan. Even though the bus travels at night, unless it travels inside of a tunnel all the way, I'm sure there will be plenty of things for me to see.
Thanks again.

Some highways, especially around urban areas are "walled in" with metal or concrete barriers that are quite high at some places (higher than buses and trucks) to absorb the noise the vehicles make around residential areas. And also many expressways use as many tunnels as the shinkansen lines do, so sometimes highway sightseeing may not be all that spectacular.

Even though the bus travels at night, unless it travels inside of a tunnel all the way, I'm sure there will be plenty of things for me to see.

Travel by night is like traveling in an endless tunnel! The only things to view are other cars passing your bus and occasional signs on the expressway. Maybe some unidentifiable lights off the expressway. In the countryside, it gets pitch-black. In urban areas, the expressways have no views due to walls.

Even during the days, expressways are boring because large sections of them have walls that block the view onto the scenery. Travel by train (and in good weather plane) tends to offers much better views of the scenery than travel by bus. However, the Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen (especially southern half of the Kyushu Shinkansen) do not offer lots of views either due to large number of tunnels and/or walls.

John and Uji... After thinking about your comments regarding the bus trip, I've decided to travel from Tokyo to Osaka using non-shinkansen trains. According to Hyperdia, the trip to Osaka should take about 9 or 10 hours to complete. Thanks again.

9-10 hours is a long time to get to Osaka from Tokyo. The Tokaido Shinkansen, if taken during the day, does offer quite beautiful scenery. Mt Fuji is clearly visible on the right side of the train (I've been lucky and have seen it clearly on all my 12 runs on the Toikaido) and the coastal areas close to Odawara. After that, it does get a little mundane until you hit Lake Hamana, right before you approach Nagoya. There is water on both sides and it's quite pretty. After Maibara and before you get to Kyoto, you can see the mountain range separating Kyoto and Lake Biwa, though the lake is not really visible. It's not a bad ride and you save 6 hours. After all, you'd be taking the Tokaido Line, which sort of parallels the Tokaido Shinkansen.

The only tunnels are from Yokohama to Odawara and the Shin-Fuji area and aren't that long. Once you get on the Sanyo Shinkansen after Osaka, then there are many more tunnels. Shin-Kobe's length is between two tunnels. From then onto Hiroshima, there are quite a few and frequent tunnels and the ride isn't that spectacular.

If you're taking local lines because you think you'll be seeing more of the countryside than you would on the Shinkansen, then it's not really true. You'll see more of the local populace and the ins and outs of their travels, but since it serves more local service, the Tokaido line is more of an urban area-to-urban area transport and is used by those tourists who have lots of time on their hands and/or on an extremely tight budget. I would not recommend such a trip.

With a JR Pass, you can take the twice-an-hour Hikari service which takes less than 3 hours now that they've increased the speed on the Tokaido line- about 2:50 minutes.

John,
I usually do have lots of time when I am in Japan. My trip next month, I will arrive at Narita on the 20 of October, see my Doctor on the 23rd and after that there is only two things that I have to do. One is to go ohakamairi and the other is to be back at Narita 11th of December.
As for the rail pass, I have the 21 day pass for this trip. I never go to Japan without one.
Perhaps you can suggest a train trip that I might enjoy. The destination is not important.
I'm glad that you and Uji opened my eyes about riding the bus. Now that I think about it, on the bus from Narita to Hakozaki, the view from the bus is limited to the tops of buildings, the big ferris wheel and traffic.

IF you're just looking for scenic train rides, Japan has a lot of smaller but great lines and sightseeing trains! A few off the top of my head:

Chiba's Choushi Line goes along the coast and is close to Tokyo.
Kanagawa's Enoden Line around Enoshima is a great scenic train (and I love the old-fashioned feeling train and stations), as well as the Hakone Tozan Line.

In Gunma, you might get to see the spectacular fall colors of the Watarase Gorge on the Watarase Keikoku Railway. Gunma also has old-fashioned steam engines that go through either Minakami or towards Nagano/Niigata.

Further afield, in Aomori/Akita is the Resort Shirakami which goes by the Unesco heritage site Shirakami Sanchi, and also offers views of the Sea of Japan.

This is just a short list... a lot of these trains have pages here on Japan Guide, and a google search will bring up a long list of others, including journeys that you can use your rail pass for. I think you'll find plenty of sightseeing opportunities on any of these trains!

Thanks