How to ride Street car (Tram?) and bus

Hi, I've never ride street car and bus in Japan (except 500 yen bus in Kyoto). Any recommendation on the procedure eg. fare payment, etc., please.

It is explained here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2015.html

Train - Pay and hop on.
Bus - Hop on and pay when you get off.
It's a no brainer.

A wrote:

Train - Pay and hop on.
Bus - Hop on and pay when you get off.

Except for the trains where you pay when you get off and the buses where you pay when you get on... ;-)

Uji offered the best advice.

Most of the buses in Japan are fixed fare and you pay when you get on- usually 210 yen. Brains required after all, A!

Well it looks like Big Dave and Sira are ganging up on you A.
Anyway I will stick up for A.
I also think it is a no brainer, Get on what ever Tran, Tram or Bus and pay and get off, easy.
Ton said he's been on the Kyoto bus, Ton it's all the same man, go for it.

Actually if you read what A said, it is not a no brainer because there are buses where you pay when you get ON not when you get OFF, there are buses where you pay when you get off depending on distance you travel.

Same with some trams/light rail is different from heavy rail like subways. Some trams/LRs operate like buses where you either pay when you get on if fixed others pay when you get off depending on distance traveled, others pay just like regular heavy rail where you need a ticket before you board.

Not such of a no brainer and a bit complicated. So if you read the link uji provide it explains it pretty well.

Actually when I said "Most of the buses in Japan" I meant "most of the buses in Tokyo". Outside Tokyo in more rural areas I have found you are more likely to pay when you get off- in Nikko and north Saitama this is definitely the case.

I don't know about other areas.

This is such a funny subject. Where I live you get on the bus in the middle, take a ticket, and pay when you get off (the current fare is displayed at the front of the bus). Unless you get on at the origin (usually the train station) in which case you don't take a ticket, you pay the max fare displayed. You get off at the front of the bus. And the change machine up front doesn't give you the change for your fare, it changes your coins so you can then put the exact fare in the fare box. It seems like a no-brainer but the first time it seemed so complicated.
I have yet to ride a train where you pay when you get off. Where are they?

Spendthrift wrote:

I have yet to ride a train where you pay when you get off. Where are they?

On rural lines where stations have no ticket machines. In this case, the system is the same as buses, in which you take a paper ticket and pay the fare indicated when you get off.

I agree with Spendthrift. God people, does it matter when you pay, God you got to pay for everything these days, Just pay and get on or get on and pay it's really easy, you guys are thinking this thing to death.
It really is a No Brainer.

The original poster asked what the procedure was, because there are different types of procedures Uji gave a link detailing the different procedures. I don't see why the discussion should have ended there.

You seem to be backing up "A" who states some incorrect information. It isn't a NO brainer as he states it.
God people, does it matter when you pay,

Yes it matters when you pay, because some things are flat fare, and some are charged based on distance when you pay certainly matters. When you get on a bus that is charged on distance travel there is a procedure you need to do, or you end up paying more then you have to. Its all covered in the link Uji provided on the procedures.