This site is an online media that delivers all sorts of trivia about the six Tohoku prefectures, from sightseeing and gourmet spots to local customs, history, and more
The hit song "We're Going to Tokyo" (The bus comes once a day." Therefore, I've gathered information to determine whether or not a bus that only comes once a day actually exists.
What is "We're Going to Tokyo"?
"Ore-ra Tokyo sa Ikuda" (We're Going to Tokyo) is a song released on November 25, 1984, by singer-songwriter Ikuzo Yoshi. The record containing the song sold 351,000 copies, reaching a peak of 4th place on the weekly charts and becoming a hit at 21st place in the 1985 annual rankings. It is also said to be the first hit rap song in Japanese music history
(The following music video contains some expressions that may be considered somewhat inappropriate by current social standards. Please exercise caution when watching.)
The song depicts a young person who is fed up with their rural life, lacking television, radio, telephone, and gas, and wants to move to Tokyo. However, what exactly does this young person want to do in Tokyo...?
Raising cattle
Pulling a carriage
Buying a mountain in Ginza
The focus is a little off
When the song was first released, lyrics such as "There's no TV, no radio" drew fierce protestsAomori Prefecture(now Goshogawara City), where Yoshi is from, with people saying, "We're not that rural." In addition, a large number of complaints came in from small farming villages all over Japan saying things like, "It's so insulting."
However, it is said that Yoshi sometimesThat didn't exist when I was a childcountered these protests by saying,to be based on Yoshi's childhood life in Kanagi Town during the 1950s and 1960s. In particular, it seems to be strongly influenced by the image of the spring of 1968, when he graduated from junior high school and moved to Tokyo.
Regardless of how Mr. Yoshi feels about his hometown, Goshogawara City has the "Ikuzo Yoshi Collection Museum," where you can look back on Mr. Yoshi's history
Now, as for how much of the lyrics are factual, most of the answers have already been provided in articles written by pioneers in this area
It seems to be true that there weren't many cars, no traffic lights or gas stations, and no bars, cafes, or pharmacies. There are also things that were already in Kanagi town, such as television and radio, but which Yoshi's family likely didn't have
When I read that "many homes didn't have telephones, so people often had to go to other houses to borrow one," I'm reminded of the scene in the movie "My Neighbor Totoro" where Satsuki says, "We don't have a telephone (at home)," and borrows one from a neighbor. On the other hand, it seems that saying there was no electricity, newspapers, or movies is an exaggeration
Retro wall-mounted telephone
Yoshikazu Ikuzo Collection Museum<Information>
Name: Yoshikazu Collection Museum
Address: 509-3 Omachi, Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture 037-0063
So, was it really true that buses only came to Kanagi Town once a day back in the 1960s?
The article mentioned earlier clearly states the following about buses:
"It wasn't just once a day.It was probably two in the morning and two in the afternoon. By the way, even now it's about three times a day. However, there were even more rural areas than Kanagi Town back then, so I think there were places where the bus only ran once a day."
the bus in Kanagi Townonly ran once a day,it was infrequent,and in more rural areas, it's possible that it really did only run once a day.
Let's take a look at the Japan Travel Bureau timetable (now the JTB timetable) from October 1967
Looking at the timetable, it appears that Konan Bus operated a route connecting Goshogawara Station, Nakazato (Nakadomari Town), and Kodomari (Nakadomari Town),running four round trips per day. However, this differs slightly from the article's description; there was one bus departing from Goshogawara Station in the morning and three in the afternoon, and three buses departing from Kodomari in the morning and one in the afternoon. The operating times were likely set with the convenience of commuters and students traveling to and from Goshogawara Station in mind.
It's unclear whether the bus in Kanagi Town mentioned in the previous article is this particular route, but it certainly lends credibility to the testimony that "it couldn't have run only once a day."
This Konan Bus route is still in operation as the Goshogawara-Kobama Line, and as of March 2026, there are 2 buses departing from the Goshogawara Depot in the morning and 4 in the afternoon (plus 2 buses departing from intermediate stops), and 4 buses departing from the Kobama Information Center in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, for a total of 6 round trips per day (on weekdays)
A Konan Bus vehicle arriving at Goshogawara Station
By the way, the former Kanagi town is also served by the Tsugaru Railway (Tsugaru Goshogawara Station to Tsugaru Nakazato Station). In October 1967, there were as many as 18 round trips per day. As of March 2026, the number of trains has decreased considerably, but there are still 10 trains per day departing from Kanagi Station in both directions. There are probably many places throughout Japan where the frequency of public transportation is lower than in Kanagi town
So, I continued looking at the timetables to see bus routes across Japan from 1967. While there were some routes with extremely few round trips, such as two or three round trips a day, there were almost no routes with only one round trip a day
However,that there weren't absolutely no bus. Since it was even listed in nationwide timetables,natural to assume that there were even more local bus routes with only one round trip per day.
A bus that ran only once a day in each direction, which still existed in recent years
While a bus that came once a day (let's assume this means one round trip, one in each direction) did exist,was a rare sight, even in the most rural areas. This is likely becausea bus that only comes once a day is simply not practical.
For example, let's say there's a bus route that runs only once a day, going from stop A to stop B and then back to stop A during the morning rush hour. People who take the morning buscannot return home on the same day. They would need to take a taxi or be picked up by a family member.
However, if the bus service were to run from stop A to stop B in the morning and back from stop B to stop A in the evening,people living in town B wouldn't be able to use the bus in the morning, and even if they took the evening bus, there wouldn't be a return bus(this wouldn't be a major problem if everyone commuting to work or school was only going in the direction of A to B).
Therefore, it's likely that at least two round trips by bus will be necessary each day
...While that should be true in principle, if you search for "bus comes once a day" on social media, you can find various bus stop timetables that only list one bus per day
And in the town where I live, there used to be a bus route that only ran once a day in each direction. It was a one-way route that departed from Station A around 8 AM on weekdays and Saturdays, immediately turned around at its final stop, Station B, and returned to Station A. In particular, the bus stop at Station B only came once a day
However, this doesn't mean that residents along the route were inconvenienced at all. Another bus company (let's call it Company B) operates buses on the same route as this bus company (let's call it Company A), making about 1 to 3 round trips per hour
In other words, it wasn't "the bus comes once a day," but rather "Company I's buscomes once a day."
This is purely speculation, but it seems that Company I previously operated a fair number of buses and competed with Company B. Although Company I almost completely withdrew from this route for some reason, it is likely that theycontinued to operate just one round trip in the morning, when passenger numbers are highest, in order to maintain the route license. This is because if a route is discontinued, it would involve administrative procedures and costs such as reinstalling bus stops if they wanted to revive it later.
There are (or were) routes throughout the country that seem to exist (or were) maintained solely for the purpose of keeping their licenses in place. Some routes only run one round trip on Saturdays, while others run only one one-way trip per year
However, the situation at Company I, which had been operating a minimum number of buses just to maintain its license, changed with the so-called "2024 problem" brought about by work style reforms. Due to revisions to the maximum daily rest time and working hours for bus drivers, it became difficult to continue operations, and as a result, Company I discontinued the route connecting Station A and Station B in March 2024. Since then, Company I has continued to discontinue routes with extremely low service frequencies, which were thought to be for the purpose of maintaining its license
When I drove my daughters to daycare, I would pass Company I's bus bound for Station B, and later, when I went to work from daycare, I would pass the bus returning to Station A. I don't think the number of passengers on the buses was particularly inferior to Company Ro's buses. Even though Company I's buses only ran one round trip a day, it wasn't that there was no demand for the route itself. It was a little pleasure for me to see where I would pass Company I's buses, so I was sad when the discontinuation was announced
Are there any areas where the bus only runs once a day in each direction?
However, the situation described above—where a bus runs only once a day in a town where buses run at a normal frequency, simply to maintain its license—is likely different from the intended meaning of the lyrics "The bus comes once a day."
really no area where no other bus companies operate, where there's only one round trip per day—in other words,an area where only one round trip bus runs each dayIs there
In the past, the "Ebetsu Line," operated by Yutetsu Bus in Hokkaido in Ebetsu City (a city with a population of just under 120,000 adjacent to Sapporo), was apparently quite famous. The Ebetsu Line only operated on weekends and holidays, and only once in each direction. It is presumed that in its later years, it was operated solely to maintain its license. Some of the bus stops that the Ebetsu Line passed through were not served by any other bus routes, meaning that these bus stopstruly experienced a situation where "the bus only comes once a day" (and only on holidays).
The Ebetsu Line was discontinued in September 2019 due to extremely low passenger numbers and a shortage of crew members
The lyrics to Ikuzo Yoshi's song "We're Going to Tokyo" include the line, "The bus comes once a day!" But here's a bus stop where the bus, which is supposed to come once a day, only comes two days a week. This is Ebetsu City, a city of 100,000 people. pic.twitter.com/KoUnNBdTkU
And in the Tohoku region, there is a route that has recently been reduced to just one round trip per day. It is the "Gojome Line" operated by Akita Chuo Kotsu
Akita Chuo Kotsu bus
The Gojome Line operates between Akita Station West Exit in Akita City and Gojome Bus Terminal in Gojome Town, Minamiakita District. Until March 2026, there were four round trips per day on weekdays and two round trips in the morning and evening on weekends and holidays
However, from April 1st,the service was reduced to one round trip between Akita Station and Gojome during the daytime on weekdays, and one round trip between Gojome and Akita Station in the morning on weekends. Now, the bus only comes once a day on both weekdays and weekends.
— Takuya Takahashi Railway [Official] (@500series) March 13, 2026
Naturally, on both weekdays and weekends, traveling by bus round trip presents problems such as having little time to stay at your destination, or even the lack of a return bus
I hear that even in urban areas, not just rural ones, it's becoming increasingly difficult for local bus services to maintain their operations and service frequencies. It's certainly possible that cases like the Gojome Line will become more common in the future
Conclusion
The line "The bus comes once a day" from "Ore-ra Tokyo sa Ikuda" (We're Going to Tokyo)was a slight exaggeration, especially if it refers specifically to Kanagi-cho, where Ikuzo Yoshi grew up. However, looking at areas outside of Kanagi-cho, bus routes with only one round trip or fewer per day exist not only back then but also in recent years.
And such routes are often discontinued because they are inconvenient or become a burden for bus companies. With the decline in passengers due to the population decrease and the shortage of drivers, it will become a world where "buses come once a day" is the best-case scenario, and "there are no buses at all" is the norm... I can only hope that this will not happen in the future.
![If you try, it will be done. If you don't try, it won't be done. If something doesn't get done, it's because people don't try](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/880054_m-150x150.jpg.webp "A journey unraveling the history of Uesugi Yozan, Lord of the Yonezawa Domain. What is the meaning behind the saying "If you try, you can do it"? [Yamagata Prefecture]")
