bus pass?

Hey!

So when i was in Tokyo, i saw lots of people with something that looked like a western bus pass, at the train stations, they used this instead of buying tickets. What is it?

Do they have something like a monthly bus pass available?

it was probably a suica or pasmo ic train pass. They are like a debit card that you only need to touch to a sensor to have it read.

Also, what is a "western bus pass"?

SUICA user's guide
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/suica.html

Not too sure what a Western Bus Pass, but what you decribed was probably one of the "IC" Cards, Pasmo or Suica (despite their names, they are pretty much the same thing), they can be used on trains and local city buses in place of buying a ticket each time (you just touch it over the scanner).

They come in regular prepaid format, or pass format (depending on which one you need).

They can also be used to make purchases in stores, restaurants etc. that accept them.

Alright so it is a Suica pass i think, how do i apply for one of these? / Where do i get them?

and a western bus pass is just something similar to that we have in Canada. But you buy it every month and you get unlimited rides for that month

Suica and Pasmo you can get that at any train station.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_002.html

It depends if you need a "Commuter Pass" then you need to apply for one, many times there are special machines that can do it for you (eg you need a one, three, or six month pass), or if you need a "regular" prepaid card, then it isn't a pass, but just a stored value card.

The Japan Guide article mainly deals with the prepaid version of the card.

Are you looking into getting a pass version?

The pass version allows you unlimited travel (along a certain designated route), so you have to designate a route you are traveling (eg from home to work/school). This is for the train version, I don't ride city buses all to much to know if there is a Pasmo bus "pass" version of it or not, the regular prepaid card works fine on buses though.