If you ever come to Fukuoka and have to catch a bus to get to school…don`t forget to buy/take a ticket. Hmm. I made a mistake on the bus, and when I was about to get off, the bus driver wanted to kill me. My host family told me which train/buses to catch to get to school. They also told me how much would cost…they probably told me that I needed to take a ticket from the machine on the bus, but having a small understanding of the Japanese language, I probably missed that point. Anyway, when you enter the bus…there are two or six machines near the entrance. The ones on the top are for people with bus cards…the ones on the BOTTOM are the machines that you take a TICKET from…The number on the ticket that you take from the machine corresponds with the number board at the front of the bus with the amount you have to pay when you get to your destination.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2015.html
site that explains it better than I can.

So yea. when I got to school, the bus driver asked me if i had a ticket and I gave him a blank stare. He got pissed and said to get off the bus. the end. Morale of the story…take a ticket or know how to use the bus…hahaha.