Thinking about taking a day trip to Osaka from Tokyo? While Osaka is a fair distance away from Tokyo (about 310 miles), it's definitely possible to visit for a day; I've done it by taking the shinkansen back and forth!
Take a day to visit Universal Studios Japan or see bright Dotonbori.
Shinkansen train tickets
To get from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka station, you can buy the shinkansen (bullet train) ticket online (including booking your seat) or at one of the ticket vending machines. A round-trip ticket will cost around 12,000¥ per person.
Alternatively, if you have the JR Rail pass, the shinkansen ride is included and you can reserve tickets online with your pass. Don't forget to book a seat on the RIGHT side of the train so you can see Mt. Fuji on your ride!
For our trip, we had the JR Rail Pass since it covered JR train lines and shinkansen rides. This was before the price increase, so we were able to come out ahead by using it for this round-trip shinkansen journey and around Tokyo. Since we did have the JR Rail Pass, we opted to get our money's worth from it rather than fly. Sure, flights are quicker, but after the time required to get to the airport and through security, it was basically a wash.
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| Stop in Nagoya on the way to Osaka |
Train schedule
To make the most of your day trip, plan to catch one of the early morning trains (and sleep on the way). The journey from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka station will take you around 2.5 hours. You can check the timetable here.
We had timed-entry tickets for 10AM to Super Nintendo Land at Universal Studios Japan, so we caught a 6:30AM train to arrive at Shin-Osaka station by around 9AM. Grab breakfast and drinks from a konbini or the train station beforehand to eat on your train ride (it's ok to eat on shinkansen!)
When planning out your day trip, it's recommended to plan catching the second to last train back to Tokyo, in case you miss it! This way, you're not stuck in Osaka for the night and can get on the last train if you run late. For our day visit, the last train to Tokyo left Shin-Osaka station at around 9:30pm and got back to Tokyo at just before midnight. We aimed to catch the train before, at around 9pm.
Getting to Osaka
Once you make it to Shin-Osaka station, you'll need to take one more train ride to get to the more central part of Osaka (Osaka Station), which is where you'll be able to get to all of the sightseeing hotspots, like Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, or USJ.
Your Suica/Pasmo card or JR Rail Pass will still work on JR West and Osaka Metro trains for travel.
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| Super Nintendo World at USJ |
Things to see in Osaka
For our daytrip, we went to Universal Studios Japan to check out Super Nintendo World since it hadn't even been announced in the US yet. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter part of USJ is also unique from the Orlando park in that it has the Black Lake next to Hogwarts, so it's definitely worth walking around to see!
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| Mario Kart ride at USJ |
We spent the better part of the day at USJ, around 5 hours, then we went to see Dotonbori. After taking photos and walking around for a bit, it was close to dinnertime, so we found a highly rated sushi spot. We were able to get a table without issue since this was before the country was open for tourism. In today's travel state, definitely get a reservation wherever you intend to dine.
After dinner and light shopping, we caught the 9pm train back to Tokyo, which arrived at around 11:30pm. It was a long day, but it honestly didn't feel too bad! I think it was because we were able to rest on the early morning train ride over, and relax on the way back to Tokyo Station.
We had visited Osaka Castle before, but if you haven't been, it's 100% worth seeing, especially since it's so close to Dotonbori via train and other attractions. This will be a long travel day, so bring a battery pack if you use your phone to navigate a lot.
Will you try taking a day trip to Osaka? Or stay longer?
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