“Next stop, Shibuya Tokyu Hands!”

That’s what one might have expected to hear at the department store that hosted the quirky Tsugi Tomarimasu Bus Button Exhibit on May 3 and 4. A private collector put his collection of over 100 bus signal buttons on display for the Golden Week shopping crowds.

Anyone who has ever ridden a bus is familiar with the buttons you push to signal that you want to disembark, and we all have a relationship with these buttons. Aggressive people want to initiate action and get where they’re going. Passive people want someone to push the button and take care of their needs. Kids just want to be big enough to reach the buttons!

In some way or another, this exhibit appealed to nearly everyone who passed by. Adults were overcome with nostalgia when buttons conjured up the familiar sounds of youth, and children loved pushing the buttons to see what sound would come out and what buttons would light up.

The jolly “BUS-kun,” owner and operator of bus button fansite Tsugi Tomarimasu (“stopping at the next stop” in English), was on hand to set up and keep watch over his button collection. For nearly 30 years, BUS-kun has been collecting signal buttons and the lamps that light up to show that a button has been pushed. He gets them from decommissioned buses.

Who knows where BUS-kun and his Bus Button Exhibit will stop next? We’ll keep an eye on it so that you can go and push buttons to your heart’s content.

Sources: Tsugi Tomarimasu, Tokyu Hands Website

Pictures: RocketNews24

▼The button in the middle is one of the most common buttons used in Japan

▼These are the lamps that let the driver know that someone has pushed a button.


[ Read in Japanese ]