Japan Series- Vol1: A Return two decades in the making (Osaka Arrival Guide and Kansai Itinerary)

Some trips stay with you. My first visit to Japan in 2005 was one of them. After 20 years of plans, near misses and cancellations, I finally made it back a few months ago with my wife in tow this time. This post kicks off a Japan travel series covering my visit to Japan again after two decades, including experiences across Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Uji in the Kansai region, along with a detailed itinerary and practical travel tips.

In 2005, I was fortunate to be part of a young delegation from India picked to participate in the UN organized Children’s World Summit for Environment. This event hosted about 600 kids and teens from all over the world in Toyohashi, near Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture. This was the first time I’ve been to any country in Asia other than India, my home. Naturally, this trip was full of culture shocks and many firsts for me as a teen with raging hormones- Chopsticks, Sushi, Japanese Wadaiko drum shows, Shinkansen (Just knew it as Bullet Train back then), 4-star hotels, awkward interactions with teens from all over the world (with equally raging hormones) and a lot more. 

This visit was a great opportunity for a lucky small-town teen like me to know more about the world, starting with a culture that I thought was as different as it could get from my own.

I was eager to return and explore Japan again from quite some time and it finally happened few months ago in Dec-2025, 20 years after my first visit. At 35 now, with not as many hormones raging and a rapidly greying scalp from the desalinated water in my part of the world, I was surprised with myself with the many sleepless nights I’ve spent as the travel date approached, just out of sheer excitement.

Shinsekai, Osaka, a day after we arrived.

Since Japan is a relatively large country, I had to decide which part of the country did I want to visit first. I usually try not to overthink and decide quickly but I must admit that all the choices were so appealing that I was genuinely in a fix. Finally, with the dispassionate counsel of my wife, we decided to explore the Kansai region in Japan first (including Osaka, Uji, Nara, Kyoto first) and a small portion of Kyushu. Also, this was the first time I was genuinely learning about the different regions in Japan.

Regions in Japan (Source: www.japanstartshere.com)

The itinerary broadly is below (Which was open to a lot of ad hoc changes, I prefer to travel with a broad plan for reference as opposed to extremely specific itineraries and tweak it on the go)-

• Day 1 to 4: Osaka as a base and visit Uji (The OG Matcha Land), Nara (went for the parks, tumbled into something amazing altogether) and Minoh (Coz the Katsuo-Ji temple seemed far too interesting to miss).
• Day 5 to 7: Kyoto as a base, explore the city and its heritage sites, visit Arashiyama (And the beautiful trails around it) and Shrines close to Kyoto (Look out for Kifune Shrine)
• Day-8: Transit in Shinkansen and spend a day in Hiroshima (We wanted to see the atomic dome and museum; a grim reminder of how terrible humankind can be to each other. Hiroshima is also a testament to how transformational a community can be with a collective will to rise from the ashes) 
• Day 9 to 11: Explore Fukuoka and the Kyushu countryside. We also had loads of things we wanted to buy from Japanese brands ranging from keepsakes, ceramics, shoes etc to high ticket watches etc and deliberately left it to the last part to avoid lugging around heavy stuff all over the place.

I will write about my experience visiting all the above places in the next few posts that explain local transport, logistics, times to avoid, tips etc that may help you plan your visit. For this post, I would limit it to reaching Osaka city from Kansai International Airport (KIX), including the best options from KIX to Osaka.

Amateur attempt at trying to capture the wide Emirates A380 wing inbound to Osaka

We took an Emirates flight from Dubai to Kansai international airport (KIX), the primary gateway to Kansai region (home to culturally rich cities Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe). If you are heading from any part of the world directly to this region, chances are you would land here unless you take a domestic transfer elsewhere in Japan (in which case you would land at Itami airport which is much closer to Osaka city). The airport itself is an engineering marvel, built on an artificial island, making it an aviation geek’s paradise like Hong Kong International airport. However, its located at quite a distance from all the cities of Kansai region and would require at least an hour’s commute to reach the city centre depending on where you are headed. Fortunately, there are multiple commute options – trains, taxi and Limousine buses. Ironically, this also caused a bit of confusion since we were spoiled for choice with the multiple train and Limousine options.

IC Card (A Must have for Tourists)

Before I get ahead of myself, let me explain about an important purchase that’s very vital once you arrive in Japan, an IC card (a contactless smart card comparable to any rechargeable metro card used in most cities for tap and go payments). An important distinction of the Japanese IC cards is that in addition to metro/subway payments, these cards can be used for most commuter rail and convenience stores in the country, like Hong Kong’s Octopus card.

Different IC Cards in Japan (Click for bigger image)

Different entities in Japan sell these cards and are named differently but they work across all regions, popular ones are below (you would only need one that can be used for your entire trip all over Japan):

ICOCA: Sold by JR (Japan Rail) West. This is the IC card primarily sold in Kansai region; we got it from the card vending machine after collecting our bags at the airport (The machine is near the ticket vending machines prior to Nankai/JR Train station in the airport). 

SUICA: This is sold by JR East, primarily in Tokyo region.

Welcome SUICA: This is a card without a deposit (other cards have a 500-yen refundable deposit) for tourists, valid only for 28 days. You can buy this online in Klook and collect it from Haneda or Narita Airports if you are landing there (Klook link for Welcome Suica)

PASMO: Sold primarily in Tokyo region.

You can buy a digital version of these cards and add to Apple Wallet if you are an iOS user. My wife and I are both android loyalists and had plans to visit Japan a few more times, so ended up buying a ICOCA card with a deposit that doesn’t have a short expiry date.

Kansai Airport to Osaka, Kyoto, Nara Transport Options

The airport train station entry is near exit D on the second floor (arrivals is in first floor, take an escalator or elevator to second floor), there is enough signage in english to guide you. There are two lines here, Nankai Line (Two Options-the faster Rapit and a slightly slower limited express that connect to Namba) and JR Line (Two Options-the faster Haruka which connects to Kyoto via Tennoji, Osaka and Shin Osaka and a slower express commuter train).

Based on our experience, I am summarizing all travel options with the destinations that may help you plan better:

Destination	Transfers	Train Type/Name	Travel Time	Cost (Per Person)
Osaka-Namba	Direct	Nankai Line: Rapit Limited Express	40 Mins	¥1500
Osaka-Namba	Direct	Nankai Line: Rapit Limited Express	50 Mins	¥1000
Osaka-Tennoji	Direct	JR Line: Haruka	38 Mins	¥1300
Osaka (Umeda)	Direct	JR Line: Haruka	50 Mins	¥1800
Osaka-Shin Osaka	Direct	JR Line: Haruka	54 Mins	¥1800
Kyoto	Direct	JR Line: Haruka	82 Mins	¥2200
Osaka-Tennoji	Direct	JR Line: Ltd Exp	55 Mins	¥1060
Osaka (Umeda)	Direct	JR Line: Ltd Exp	70 Mins	¥1180
Osaka-Shin Osaka	Osaka (Umeda)	JR Line: Ltd Exp	80 Mins	¥1340
Kyoto	Osaka (Umeda)	JR Line: Ltd Exp	110 Mins	¥1910
Nara	Tennoji	JR Line: Ltd Exp	95 Mins	¥1680
All over Kansai Region	Direct	Limousine Bus (1st Floor Arrival Hall)	Based on Dest	Based on Dest

Tickets on Klook for Japan trains and airport transfers are at often discounted compared to JR walk in counters and conveniently avoids long crowded queues. If you are anyway going to buy it on Klook, please consider using my affiliate links (Nankai Limited Express Rapi:t Ticket or JR Haruka Kansai Airport Express Ticket) to purchase at no additional cost to you.

Our Nankai Rapit Train from Kansai to Namba

Our accommodation was near Namba, so the Nankai Rapit train from Kansai airport to Osaka namba made better sense for us. We brought the ticket online through klook since its specific to a departure time and can be modified in the app if your flight is delayed. After a 45 mins ride on the Rapit, we were at Namba, a short subway ride took us to our hotel apartment. 

Used the one sentence we learnt in Japanese that day - "Sapporo Biru Arimasu ka?"

It was already quite late in the evening and we wanted to go to Uji the next morning, it was only logical that we hit the bed early to avoid jet lag. Excitement got the better of us though and we ended up in a local izakaya till late midnight gulping down Sapporo Biru!!