Getting Here & Onward
アクセス · ACCESS
Kansai and Itami airports, the Shinkansen, and the night buses.
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Osaka has two airports and they are not interchangeable, and it sits on the Shinkansen, which makes it the easiest base in western Japan.
The two airports
Kansai International (KIX) is built on an artificial island roughly 50 km south of the city and handles international traffic. It has a direct rail link, with both a limited express and a slower ordinary service. Itami (ITM) is much closer to the centre but is domestic only — arriving on an international ticket, you will be at KIX.
Onward by train
Shin-Osaka is the Shinkansen station and is not the same as Osaka Station — they are one stop apart and the distinction catches people with tight connections. Tokyo is roughly two and a half hours; Hiroshima is under two.
Night buses
Long-distance overnight coaches are considerably cheaper than the Shinkansen and leave from the main terminals. They are a real option for Tokyo if you would rather spend the money on food.
This section is being written. The guide above is the section for now. New articles are published across the site about twice a week rather than a section being filled in a day, so this page grows steadily — it is worth looking in again. In the meantime the sixteen sight pages and the plans by trip length are finished, and they are the best place to start.
Coming next in this section
- How do you get from Kansai Airport into Osaka, and what does each option cost?
- Kansai or Itami: which Osaka airport are you actually flying into?
- How do you get from Osaka to Tokyo, and is the night bus worth it?
- How do you get from Osaka to Hiroshima?