Osaka Station (in Japanese: 大阪駅) is located in Umeda District, Osaka. As the largest station in Japan's Kansai region, Osaka Station was put into service on May 11th, 1874 and is mainly operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West Japan). The station is the hub for neighboring transportation networks, which puts Osaka in the leading position for politics and business.
The whole station – Osaka Station City – has two entrances: the north entrance in the North Gate Building and the south entrance in the South Gate Building. The railway station itself only possesses three floors (from the first floor to the third floor). On other floors in the complex, visitors can find stores, markets, restaurants, and entertainment. The North Gate Building and the South Gate Building are connected on the first floor, third floor, and fifth floor.
Floor |
Facility |
Opening Times |
First floor |
Train and Tourist Information |
08:00–20:00 |
Foreign Currency Exchange |
10:30–19:30 (weekdays) 10:30–19:00 (Saturdays) 10:30–18:30 (Sundays) |
|
The Central Ticket Office |
05:30–23:00 |
|
Lost and Found |
08:00–20:00 |
|
Third floor |
Osaka Station City Information |
10:00–20:00 |
Tourist Service Center |
08:00–20:00 |
Address: first floor, the North Gate Building
Bus availability: city buses, long-distance express buses
As the largest station in western Japan, Osaka Station is the hub for many train lines. In the following table, you can see the list of JR lines in Osaka Station.
JR, namely the Japan Railway Group (Japan Railways), is Japan's major railway company group. Its predecessor was Japan National Railways (referred to as "National Railways", which commonly used its abbreviated name of "JNR"). Japan National Railway was divided into seven companies in 1987. The original state-owned operating rights were transferred to private enterprises (the national railway division was privatized) and the companies it separated into were collectively referred to as "Japan Railways".
Tips: Osaka Station doesn’t have any Shinkansen (bullet trains). If you want to experience a bullet train, then you should buy tickets and board the train at Shin-Osaka Station.
Platform |
Name of JR Line |
Main Stations/Cities Passed By |
|
1 |
The Osaka Loop Line |
Inner ring |
Nishikujō, Shitennoji direction |
JR梦呹线ゆめさきせ |
- |
Universal Studios Japan, Sakurajima direction |
|
Yamato road express |
Nara, Kamo direction |
||
2 |
The Osaka Loop Line |
Outer ring |
Kyobashi, Tsuruhashi direction |
3/4 |
JR Kobe Line |
|
Itami, Fukuchiyama direction |
3–6 |
JR Kobe Line |
Sannomiya-eki, Kamiike direction |
|
6 |
JR Takarazuka Line |
|
Kobe, Mita direction |
7–10 |
JR Kyoto Line |
|
Shin-Osaka, Kyoto, Takatsuki |
11 |
Urgent Platform |
There are many hotels near Osaka Station. These include tourist hotels, business hotels, budget hotels, and traditional ryokans. Some of them are really close to Osaka Station.
The following one is right inside the station building:
Hotel Granvia Osaka (located inside the South Gate Building)
Daimaru department store (inside the station building)
Lucua and Isetan department stores (inside the station building)
Hankyu Umeda Department Store
Hanshin Department Store Umeda
Finding a restaurant near Osaka Station is very easy. Here is a list of the top nine restaurants in 2019:
Wolfgang's Steakhouse Osaka
The Cosmopolitan Grill Bar Terrace
Barbacoa Churrascaria Umeda
Umeda ZIPANGU by Nadaman
Bulgari Il Café Osaka
BLT Steak Osaka
Hanano - The Westin Osaka
Kokyu - The Westin Osaka
Amadeus - The Westin Osaka
Tokyo Station is one of the largest and busiest train stations in Japan. Over 3,000 trains stop at this station per day.
Trains in Japan offer three classes of seat: ordinary seat, green car seat and gran class seat.
If you plan to take trains in Japan, JR Pass is an incredibly good value for money and can save you a lot of hassle.