• Japan Guide

  • Introduction to Japan
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Money
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• Explore Japan

  • Tokyo
  • Around Tokyo
  • Northern Honshū
  • Hokkaidō
  • Central Honshū
  • Kyoto
  • Nara
  • Kansai
  • Western Honshū
  • Shikoku
  • Kyūshū
  • Okinawa

• Cities

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  • Tokyo
    
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  • Yokohama
    

Japan Guide

Kansai

Arrival

International and many domestic flights arrive at Kansai International airport (KIX; www.kansai-airport.or.jp ), on a man-made island in Ōsaka Bay, some 35km south of the city centre. The fastest way into the city is by train. Services depart from the station connected to the second floor of the passenger terminal building. The regular Nankai Express, or kaisoku (快速; ¥890), takes just over forty minutes to reach Nankai Namba Station (南海難波駅), although it's hard to resist the chic Rapi:t (pronounced "Rapid"), designed like a train from a sci-fi comic, which costs ¥1390 and does the journey in around thirty minutes. From Nankai Namba Station you can take a subway or taxi to other parts of the city.

Itami Airport, or Ōsaka Airport, as it is also confusingly known, is 10km north of the city centre and only handles domestic flights. From the airport there are regular buses into the city (25–50min depending on destination; ¥340–680) and also to Shin-Ōsaka Station (25min; ¥480).

Shinkansen pull into Shin-ŌsakaStation, north of the city centre. You can transfer here to other JR services around the area or to the city's subway lines. JR services, along the Tōkaidō line connecting Nagoya, Kyoto and Kōbe with Ōsaka, arrive at the central Ōsaka Station in Umeda.

Ōsaka has various long-distance busstations. These are located beside the JR Ōsaka Station in Umeda; at the Namba Kaisoku Bus Terminal and Ōsaka City Air Terminal in Namba; at Kintetsu Uehonmachi, south of the castle; and at Abenobashi near Tennōji, 1km further south of the castle. All are beside or near subway and train stations for connections around the city.

Ōsaka is still a major port of call for many of the ferries plying routes around Japan, and sailing into Ōsaka Bay is a memorable way of approaching the city. The port is west of the city centre and has good transport links via the subway and train network. Most ferries use the Ōsaka Nankō Terminal, close to Ferry Terminal Station on the New Tram monorail, which connects to the city's subway network. The nearest station to the less busy Tempozan East Wharf is Ōsaka-kō on the Chūō subway line, a ten-minute walk away.