TOKYO - Japan’s first overnight bus service with lie-flat seats began Dec 6 in western Japan, allowing passengers to relax during the roughly 10-hour trip to and from Tokyo as the operator aims to make the service a “new form of mobility”.

Bus operator Kochi Ekimae Kanko, based in Kochi Prefecture, decided to launch the service in the hope of catering to the needs of bus travellers who complain that overnight bus rides are physically exhausting.