Last month I traveled to Japan. This included a 4-day visit to Kyoto. I travelled to Kyoto via the Shinkansen Bullet train from Tokyo. From Kyoto, I needed to go to Kansai Airport – the closest International Airport to Kyoto and Osaka. The best, and fastest way to travel from Kyoto/Osaka to Kansai Airport is the Haruka Express. The Haruka Express takes 1 hour and 20 minutes from Kyoto Station to Kansai Airport. While traveling with the Haruka Express is very straightforward, getting your ticket isn’t that straightforward!
In this review I’ll discuss the steps involved getting your ticket for the Haruka Express from Kyoto to Kansai Airport.
Haruka Express ticket purchasing guide
There are various ways buying a ticket for the Haruka Express. JR – Japanese Rail – has special offers for non-Japanese passport holders but that this comes with some annoying steps.
I did buy my Haruka Express physical ticket on forehand, and I paid 2,200 Japanese Yen which is the promotional one way ticket price. This is roughly 14 dollars.
I used the Klook website for this and the Klook website uses the same fare as the JR website. This is interesting since Shinkansen tickets are sold with an uplift on this website. But in this case, the Klook website is a good, reliable website to book your Haruka ticket. There are 2 options; to book an e-ticket or to book a physical ticket. The e-ticket is a few dollars cheaper and requires registering on the JR West website. The physical ticket option requires you to redeem a QR code at the train station. I opted for the last option and that was a bit more complex than I initially anticipated.
The confirmation you’re getting when choosing the ‘physical ticket’ option comes with a QR code and this confirmation email is not the official ticket. You’ll need to use that QR code to redeem your real ticket using a suitable machine at the JR station. And you’ll also need to scan your passport during that process. I found this whole process very cumbersome especially since these special machines are only located at one specific location.
I initially wanted to get my ticket it at the JR ticket machines you’ll see when you exit the Kyoto subway station. However, you won’t find the suitable green ticket machines there. Instead, you’ll need to go to central gate next to the ticket office on 1F… And when it’s the first time you are visiting the Kyoto train station, that can be challenging to locate.
The best way to get there is to follow the signs to the West Gate! When you exit the subway station, you first follow the signs for the ‘Bus Stop’. The moment you see the signs for the West Gate, you continue to follow these. That will bring you to a ticket office where you will find these special machines. Please review my YouTube video where I show the best way getting around Kyoto Station to locate these machines!
After you have redeemed your ticket, you can then use the same machine to reserve your seat.
My recommendation is to make sure you consider some extra time for this process. Or just do it a few days in advance, which I did.
Haruka “Hello Kitty” Express
Some cars of the Haruka Express have the “Hello Kitty” theme which is very cool! The ride to Osaka and Kansai airport is not that eventful and the 80 minutes pass quickly. I found the ordinary seats comfortable enough for this relatively short ride and didn’t see a need to upgrade to the green car.
Conclusion
The fastest way from Kyoto to Kansai Airport (and v.v.) is using the Haruka Express. Obtaining the physical ticket using the special one-way promotion price for non-Japanese passport holders, can be a bit cumbersome because you’ll have to find the suitable machines to redeem your ticket. For this reason, I would recommend doing this a few days in advance to prevent any last-minute stress.
Another option is to buy an e-ticket if you don’t mind registering on the JR West Website.
The journey itself is not that eventful and the ordinary seats will do fine for this trip; there is no need to upgrade to the green car.
Don’t forget to also have a look at my YouTube video explaining the ticket process in more detail and subscribe to the channel for more flight and train reviews!
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