Japan Guide
Kansai
Getting around
Ōsaka's extensive subway and train system operates exactly like Tokyo's – it even has an overground circular line, called the JR Loop line, with trains running clockwise and anticlockwise, just like the Yamanote line in Tokyo. The Loop line is handy, especially if you're using a rail pass, but most of the time you'll find the subway more convenient and quicker for getting around the city. You can transfer between the seven subways and the New Tram line on the same ticket, but if you switch to any of the railway lines at a connecting station you'll need to buy either another ticket or a special transfer ticket when you start your journey. Most journeys across central Ōsaka cost ¥230. See the colour insert at the back of the book for a map of the Ōsaka subway.
Because Ōsaka's attractions are widely scattered, investing in a one-day pass (¥850) is worth considering if you're up for a hectic round of the sights. The pass, like a thin telephone card, is valid on all the subway lines and will be date-stamped when you pass it through the gate machines the first time. On Fridays and the twentieth of each month (or twenty-first if the twentieth falls on a Sunday), you can buy the "No-My-Car-Day" pass (a scheme to encourage people to use public transport instead of their cars), which is the same as the one-day pass, but only costs ¥600. If you're spending a few days in Ōsaka, you could also buy a pre-paid subway card, which costs ¥3000 but provides ¥3300 worth of travel – these can be bought at subway-ticket vending machines as well as station kiosks.
There are plenty of buses, but you'll find the subways and trains with their English signs and maps much easier to use. If you do need to go short distances quickly, flag down a taxi; a city-centre journey shouldn't cost more than ¥2000.