When travelling from Kansai Airport, you will mostly use trains, with occasional buses or boat transport.
While trains from two different companies, JR and Nankai, go to the main centres of Osaka, buses go to different locations depending on the hotels and boats connect Kansai Airport with Kobe Airport.
Trains - Osaka and Kyoto
The airport station can be found in all search engines under the name Kansai Airport and is located just outside Terminal 1. Free shuttle buses run from Terminal 2.
The journey time to central Osaka is 40 minutes for express trains and about 60-70 minutes for other services. Trains to Kyoto take 80 minutes.
| Carrier | Destinations | Price | JR Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nankai Railway | Namba, Shin-Imamiya | 970 jpy 1 490 jpy - rapi:t trains |
x |
| JR | Tennoji, Osaka Sta., Shin-Osaka, Kyoto and others |
1 080 jpy (Tennoji) 1 840 jpy - Haruka trains |
✓ |
Tickets for both rail carriers (JR and Nankai) are always purchased before entering the platform at the ticket machines (cash only) or at the ticket office (payment by card as well). Tickets for JR and Nankai trains are not compatible with each other.
Fares can also be paid for with one of 10 Japanese transport cards (Icoca, Suica, etc.), which can be purchased from a vending machine at the station for 500 jpy. When travelling on Limited Express trains (rapi:t or Haruka) you must always buy a seat reservation.
All-day tickets for the Osaka metro are not valid on any airport trains.
Nankai Electric Railway
Nankai trains run to Namba Station, which is located just outside the popular Dotonbori, Shinsaibashi and Nippombashi districts.
All trains also stop at Shin-Imamiya Station, which you can use to travel to the Shinsekai district.
The JR Pass is not valid on Nankai trains, but you can use the Kansai Railway Pass here (see the Osaka guide for details).
There are two types of trains to the airport: the Airport Express, and the fastest Limited-Express Rapi:t. Each type of train stops at a different number of stations.
- Rapi:t
- Travel time Namba - 39 minutes
- Price at both Namba and Shin-Imamiya stations - 970 jpy + mandatory fee 520 jpy for seat reservation
- Limited-Express Rapi:t train cannot be travelled without a seat reservation
- Frequency - 30 minutes
- Airport Express
- Travel time Namba - 43 minutes
- Price at both Namba and Shin-Imamiya stations - 970 jpy
- Frequency - 15 to 30 minutes
To find connections, visit kensaku.nankai.co.jp and a map of the routes and all stations is available at this page: nankai.co.jp/railmap.
- First train from Namba station - 6:00 (rapi:t arriving 6:35)
- Last train from the airport - 23:55
- Swissotel Nankai Osaka - Tip for a great hotel right at the train station
JR trains
The state railway JR-WEST runs from the airport directly to the city centre. On these trains you can use the JR Pass or the regional variants of the JR-WEST Pass.
If you travel on the Express HARUKA, you will need to purchase a seat reservation, but this is free for JR Pass holders.
Also, JR Railway operates two types of trains with different number of stops and price - Kansai Airport Rapid Service and Kansai Airport Express HARUKA.
To travel with Haruka trains, you must also purchase a seat in addition to the fare. The cheaper "Non-Reserved" option does not guarantee a seat and you can only use the appropriately marked carriages. The more expensive "Reserved" option guarantees a seat.
When travelling from the city centre to the airport by Rapid Service, only board the first 4 carriages. The train will split at Hineno station. The front part goes to the airport and the back part goes to Wakayama City.
Examples of prices and journey times to major stations:
- Tennoji - station on the southern edge of downtown, use for example the Harukas 300 skyscraper or transfer to JR trains towards Nara
- Rapid Service - 52 minutes / 1 080 jpy
- Haruka Express - 41 minutes / from 1 840 jpy
- Shin-Imamiya - station near the Shinsekaidistrict
- Rapid Service - 56 minutes / 1 080 jpy
- Haruka Express - trains do not stop at this station
- Nishikujo - station on the western edge of downtown, use to transfer to local JR trains to Universal Studios Japan
- Rapid Service - 65 minutes / 1 210 jpy
- Haruka Express - trains do not stop at this station
- Osaka Station - a station in the central Umeda district and a hub for regular JR trains
- Rapid Service - 71 minutes / 1 210 jpy
- Haruka Express - 45 minutes / from 2 410 jpy
- Shin-Osaka - shinkansen rapid train station
- Rapid Service - no trains to this station
- Haruka Express - 52 minutes / from 2 590 jpy
- Kyoto - the main station in one of Japan's most visited cities , Kyoto
- Rapid Service - no trains to this station
- Haruka Express - 80 minutes / from 3 110 jpy
Rapid Service trains run at intervals of about 20-40 minutes and Haruka Express trains run at intervals of 60 minutes.
For connections, visit westjr.co.jp.
- First train from downtown
- 5:54 from Tennoji Station
- 6:22 from Osaka Station
- Last train from the airport - 23:09
- APA Hotel Tennoji Ekimae - Tip for a cheap hotel near Tennoji station
- Hotel Granvia Osaka - Tip for a very good hotel right in Osaka station
Limousine Bus
There are very comfortable Limousine Buses to many parts of Osaka, which are slightly more expensive than trains - one way tickets to the centre cost 1 800 jpy.
The advantage of the buses is to go to the harbour area and Universal Studios Japan, for example, or to the cities of Kobe and Nara. Unlike trains, buses go to both terminals.
The disadvantage is the risk of getting stuck in traffic jams and the longer journey times (about 65 to 80 minutes).
- Osaka Umeda
- 1x every 10-20 minutes / 1 800 jpy
- Timetable
- Namba
- 1x every 30 minutes / 1 800 jpy
- Timetable
- Universal Studios Japan
- 1x every 30 minutes / 1 800 jpy
- Timetable
- Kintetsu Uehommachi
- 1x per hour / 1 800 jpy
- Timetable
- Kyoto
- 1x per 30 minutes / 2 800 jpy
- Timetable
- Kobe
- 1x every 20-30 minutes / 2 200 jpy
- Timetable
For a complete listing of all buses, including timetables, please visit the bus company's website: kate.co.jp.
Taxi, Uber
There are only official taxis in Osaka, as well as the Uber app, but only regular taxis can be hailed at metered prices.
You can book a car in the arrival halls of terminals 1 and 2.
The price to central Osaka varies depending on traffic around 24 000 jpy.
Car rental
If you're only heading to Osaka city, renting a car is not worth it due to the uncluttered traffic and quality of the subway and train network.
If you want to venture out of the airport and into the countryside, there are several local and large multinational car rental companies.
Prices for weekly rentals start at 430 usd.
Ferry
To the airport Kobe UKB Near Koba town, take the fast ferries from the wharf about 600 metres from Terminal 1.
A free shuttle bus connecting terminals 1 and 2 stops at the wharf and connects to all boats, see detailed timetable: kobe-access.jp
Ships depart once an hour and a one-way ticket costs 1 880 jpy. The cruise takes 35 minutes.
- First ferry from Kobe Airport - 5:30am
- Last ferry from Kansai Airport - 23:50
Official information is available at kobe-access.jp.
Hotels near the airport
Due to the distance of the airport from downtown Osaka and the poor early morning traffic, we recommend staying at one of the airport hotels if you have a departure before 8:00am.
Although the public part of Terminal 1 is open 24/7, there are no suitable places to stay in the terminal.
There are two hotels directly connected to the public area of Terminal 1.
- Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport ****
- First Cabin Kansai Airport *** - capsule hotel
Cheaper hotels can be found on the mainland near the Nankai "Rinku Town" train station.
Only hotels with free hotel transfers to the terminals are listed. The minibus ride takes about 15 minutes.
