‘cocoon’, a luxury bus service of the willer express company, seats passengers in private pods image courtesy of recordjapan
comfort is key and privacy protected on the ‘cocoon‘ line of japanese bus service willer express, which seats its passengers in private luxury pods.
the bus runs from osaka to tokyo in approximately six hours. each of the twelve ‘cocoons’ is designed as a private personal module, containing a seat that reclines up to 140 degrees, a television with onboard entertainment program for music and gaming, controllable lighting, a small table and power outlet, and headphones and blankets for use. the walled pods are set at slight forward angles to optimize space while still allowing for the seats to recline fully.
wi-fi is included in the price, which ranges from about 110 to 160 USD, making it less expensive than the shinkansen bullet trains that run the same route, albeit with a longer travel time.
full view of the interior of a ‘cocoon’ image courtesy of recordjapan
view looking towards the front of the bus image courtesy of gigazine
view looking towards the rear of the bus image courtesy of gigazine
the seating module image at right courtesy of japanguide
detail of seat and entertainment center image courtesy of gigazine
aerial view of the 12-person seating arrangement (left) and an individual ‘cocoon’ (right)
exterior view of the express bus, which services tokyo from osaka
via dvice
