Jiro dreams of sushi, but he never would’ve dreamed of this.
When you’re visiting Japan on a tight schedule and trying to pack as much as possible into your short time here, being able to do two things at once can be a timesaver. It can also become a weird, surreal and Japan-only experience, if the new “Sushi Bus” is anything to go by.
This unusual new attraction combines conveyor belt sushi with a sightseeing bus tour, by putting a working sushi conveyor belt on the second floor of an open-top double-decker bus to create a new experience that’s said to be the first of its kind in the world.
Developed by Sushi Bus Co. in collaboration with Willer Across, which rents out restaurant buses with onboard kitchens, this new service is as impressive as it sounds: passengers sit on the second floor of an open-top bus while sushi travels around them on a conveyor belt, allowing them to eat as they take in views of Tokyo.
▼ Yes, the sushi really will be moving around the bus.
The bus will depart from the Kajibashi Parking Lot near Tokyo Station, but unlike a conventional sightseeing tour, it won’t be travelling to a specific destination. Instead, it will go on a spin around the city, much like the conveyor belt inside it, passing famous sites while passengers enjoy all-you-can-eat sushi on the 70-minute tour.
The restaurant bus has a kitchen on the first floor, where staff prepare a variety of sushi. An elevator inside the bus transports the finished sushi to the second floor, where a staff member places it onto the conveyor belt running alongside the passenger seats.
▼ The elevator system in action.
The current plan is for the bus to have just 20 seats, so there will only be 20 diners on board. The company says this limited capacity is part of the appeal, and because the bus is so unusual, it’s likely to attract plenty of attention as it travels around Tokyo. making Shibuya Scramble Crossing, Ginza and Kaminarimon in Asakusa some of the likely contendors for sites along the yet-to-be determined route.
The Sushi Bus concept, which has been in development for roughly two and a half years, started with an April 2024 illustration of what the bus might look like.
The road to making it a reality involved a lot of testing and lateral thinking, as the companies involved had to work out a way to install a sushi conveyor belt on a moving vehicle while also dealing with the kitchen facilities and other requirements involved in operating a restaurant bus.
▼ Team members hard at work, to accomplish “a project no one had ever attempted before”.
The conveyor itself required extensive testing with Kitanihon Kako, a major Japanese manufacturer of sushi conveyor systems, to prevent sushi from falling off the belt in the case of sudden braking.
▼ This test-ride video shows how well the sushi stays on the belt, even when the bus comes to a sudden stop.
Sushi Bus says there are currently only five restaurant buses operating in Japan, all owned by Willer Group. One of the five has now been renovated to become the Sushi Bus, which is said to be the first of its kind in the world.
▼ The company says it can accommodate a variety of dietary requirements, including religious dietary restrictions, allergies and “vegitarian” requests.
The new service is currently set to begin with one bus in Tokyo, although the company hopes to eventually expand to other major tourist destinations like Osaka and Kyoto as well.
The planned price is 16,000 yen (US$101) per person, with online reservations here and five departure times scheduled each day: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The bus is scheduled to begin operating in Tokyo on 10 October.
Sources: Press release, YouTube/@株式会社SUSHIBUS
Featured image: YouTube/@株式会社SUSHIBUS
Insert images: Press release
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