Day 1 - Osaka

Getting to Osaka from Kansai International Airport

There are a few options to travel into the heart of Osaka:

1) Private rail Nankai Airport Express cost JPY 920 can get you to Namba under 50 minutes.
2) Private rail Nankai Airport Limited Express Rapi:it cost JPY 1,430 is a faster alternative within 37 minutes.
3) JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service cost JPY 1,190 can get you to Osaka Station in 70+ minutes
4) JR Haruka Limited Express cost JPY 3,050 can get you to Shin-Osaka just under 50 minutes.

Namba is the main shopping district where Dotonbori and Shinshaibashi is within the vicinity, If you have a JR pass, you can use the JR Haruka Limited Express and change station at JR Tennoji station to JR Namba station for free.

Arrived at Kansai International Airport around 4pm. Located on a man-made island, this airport is well sign-posted in English. One can easily locate the tourism counter and train station. Maps are available at the tourism counter stationed by English-speaking Japanese lady who greets you with a warm “Welcome to Japan”.

I bought the ICOCA-Haruka rail pass* at the JR West office just in front of the entrance of train station. Staff speaks limited English but I have no problem in getting the pass smoothly. 

The Haruka Limited express ticket. You will be issued with 2 tickets for each trip if you bought the round-trip version. 

ICOCA rechargeable contactless smart card with Osaka Castle and Hello Kitty as cover art. 

Train ride to Osaka was a peaceful journey. I whisked through the quiet suburban on a Sunday evening  there’s no traffic congestion & hustle-bustle of human activity. Just the scene of occasional local folks riding their bicycle or strolling serenely nearby the train tracks portraying a lazy Sunday evening. 

The peaceful Izumisano suburb just outside Kansai Airport.

 

I spent the night at Dotonbori, a large shopping arcade which has a fair share of exciting eateries with over-the-top signboard. The experience here was completely different than the train ride just now. Packed with people doing their last minute chill out before enduring Monday blue, it is as lively as morning rush hour with less intensity. Here, it was a perfect appetiser in my trip to get a glimpse of urban culture in Japan. 

Scenes of Dotonbori street

Scenes of Dotonbori street

One of the restaurants with giant dragon as signboard.

The famous crab restaurant with of course, a giant mechanised crab signboard.

*ICOCA-Haruka pass includes a return ticket from Kansai International Aiport to either Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe and a pre-charged with JPY 1,500 ICOCA smart card. Your arrival station from the airport need not to be same as your departure station to airport as long as it is within the Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe zone. It cost JPY 4,060 for round trip or JPY 3,030 for single trip.