公共交通機関 / Public Transport

(Most of this is relevant to Japan generally but I don’t know if some points are maybe Kansai-specific!)

Arriving in Japan and Getting to Accommodation

After arriving in Japan, the first thing you do is go through immigration and customs. The immigration checks can take a while as there tend to be a lot of people waiting and this is where you’ll receive your Residence Card. You can then collect your luggage and head to customs – this was pretty quick as all you have to do is hand them your passport and a customs declaration form that doesn’t take long to fill out. It’s also very helpful to have a note of the address and phone number of your accommodation in Japan as this is needed for some of the forms.

When I first arrived in Japan, I had already booked a seat in one of the shuttle taxis from KIX to save me the trouble of figuring it out upon arrival after a long-haul flight. I used MK Taxis’ Skygate Shuttle (https://www.mktaxi-japan.com/) as this was recommended by my host university (Ritsumeikan). You can book easily through their website and it was easy to find their counter after leaving customs. This cost around ￥4200 (about £30) to travel to Kyoto and you pay on the day to the shuttle driver. The journey took maybe two and a half hours to Kyoto and I would recommend this method of getting to your accommodation from the airport as you are driven all the way to your final destination. If you also go to Ritsumeikan, they have specific days for moving into the accommodation so there’s a good chance you’ll share the shuttle taxi with people from your dorm – I happened to end up travelling to the dorm with three people who were also going to be staying there.

Other Transport Options from KIX

Another option for getting to and from Kansai International is the Haruka Limited Express train. This will take you from KIX to Kyoto Station and also stops at Tennoji, Shin-Osaka and Takatsuki. It takes around 1.5 hours to get from KIX to Kyoto Station using this train and you need both a train fare ticket and an express fare ticket. You also have the choice to pay extra for a reserved seat but I just went for an unreserved carriage and had no issues finding a seat. This method was easy enough to use as you simply follow the signs for the trains after you leave customs and it was easy to buy a ticket on the day from one of the ticket machines.

There is also the option of taking the Airport Limousine Bus from KIX but I haven’t used this method so can’t give much information on it – sorry!

Travelling Within Japan

First of all, I would highly recommend getting one of the rechargeable fare cards/travelcards. It saves you a lot of time as you don’t have to buy a ticket every time you use the train or subway, and is handy on the buses where only exact change is accepted if you’re not using a travelcard. They can be easily bought and topped up at most ticket machines.

Buses Buses are easy to use in Japan. The bus has two doors – you get on using the door near the back of the bus and then leave via the door near the front of the bus. You also pay as you get off the bus rather than as you’re getting on. Only the exact fare is accepted (￥230 in Kyoto) so having the ICOCA (etc.) is handy here. There are also machines at the front of the bus where you can exchange a ￥1000 note for change for your fare.

Trains/Subway I would say trains and the subway in Japan are known for being convenient for good reason as well. One other major advantage of trains in Japan is that they’re usually much cheaper than trains in the UK; for example, the train journey from Kyoto Station to Uji Station (about 20-30 minutes) is ￥240 which is only about £1.70. The main downside of public transport in Japan, in my opinion, is that both trains/the subway and buses don’t run from around midnight to 6am which means if you’re out late, you have to work your plans around that.

公共交通機関

来日と寮やホテルへの行き方

日本に着いた時、まず入国手続きを通り抜けなければいけないが、長い列があるし、ここで在留カードをもらうし、これはしばらくかかるかもしれない。そのあと、荷物を受け取って、税関を通り抜けなければいけない。税関申告書とパスポートを見せるだけでいいのだから、早くできると思う。その上、書類によっては、宿泊についての情報は必要があるので、泊の住所と電話番号を書き留めておいた方がいい。

私が関西国際空港に着いた時に、手間が省けるために、もう京都へ行くシャトルタクシーの席を予約しておいた。私の大学（立命館大学）の忠告によって、私は日本に来る前に、MKタクシーのスカイゲイトシャトル（https://www.mktaxi-japan.com/）の席を予約しておいた。 MKタクシーのウェブサイトを使うことで、簡単に予約できる。スカイゲイトシャトルで京都に行くことは￥4200して、2時間半ぐらいかかった。目的地までずっと連れていてくれるので、私はこの方法をすすめる。

他の関西国際空港からの公共交通機関

そして、はるかという関空からの特急列車もある。はるかで関空から京都駅まで行くことは一時間半ぐらいかかって、乗車券も特急券も買うことは必要がある。

その上、空港からのリムジンバスもある。しかし、これを使ったことはないので、あまり教えられない 。

日本国内の旅行

まず、ICカード乗車券を買った方がいいであろう。電車や地下鉄に乗ったら、切符の代わりにICカードを使えるので、時間が節約できる。写真が見せるように、券売機を使うことで、ICカードを買うこととチャージすることは簡単だ。

バス 日本のバスは本当に便利で、使いやすいと思う。バスはドアが二つあるà 後ろのドアは入口で、前のドアは出口だ。そして、エジンバラとは対照的に、バスを降りているときに、支払わなければいけない。

電車と地下鉄

日本の列車や地下鉄は安くて、きわめて便利なので、世界中で知られているね。今まで、私もそう思う。例えば、京都駅から宇治駅までは30分ぐらいかかるが、￥240だけする。

私の意見だが、一つの問題は、公共交通機関は普通十二時から六時まで動かないから、夜に外出したければ、この情報を考慮に入れておくべきだ。