From Osaka to Kyoto on board the Kyo-Train Garaku

Kyoto is the cultural and historical heart of Japan, having been the capital of ancient Japan for more than a thousand years.

Over the years, I have been to various parts of Japan but Kyoto has certainly left the deepest impression on what Japan stands for; the richness of the culture, the traditions and of course, the food.

Kyoto is home to many temples, shrines, gardens and palaces which include 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This high concentration of world heritage sites makes it such a compelling place to visit.

One of the easiest way to get to Kyoto is to fly into Osaka and take a train from there.

In this blog, I am going to write about journeying from Osaka to Kyoto.

To get started, it will be helpful to equip yourself with a prepaid card (either a Suica or Pasmo). A prepaid card is the best way to pay for your train and bus rides as well as your other purchases across Japan.

What's even better is that you do not even need to physically purchase this prepaid card. All you have to do is simply set up this card on your Apple iPhone (8 or later) or your Apple Watch (Series 3 or later).

Here's how you do it.

Finally, if you are from Singapore, you can only top up using either a Citibank Mastercard or an Amex card. After that, you are good to go!

For your journey from Osaka to Kyoto, you can take the train from Osaka-umeda to Kyoto-kawaramachi on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.

To add more colours to your journey to Kyoto, I would highly recommend taking Hankyu Railways' Kyo-train Garaku which runs every two hours starting from 9.32am with the last train departing at 3.32pm. Yes, the Japanese are that precise.

The Kyo-train Garaku is a train specially designed to give passengers the vibes of Japan's ancient capital the moment they step on board the train.

There are six carriages and each are designed to represent the different seasons of Kyoto and their respective botanic motifs.

Carriage 1 represents the Autumn season with the maple leaf as its motif. The carriage features Tatami-style box seatings and decorated with ryusui-in-kaede, or fallen maple leaves floating in the river.

Carriage 2 represents the Winter season with bamboo as its motif. The carriage features a dry landscape garden and shoji screens designed especially for viewing snow.

Carriage 3 represents Spring with cherry blossom as its motif. The carriage is decorated with patterns of the iconic cherry blossom with seatings facing the windows so that passengers can enjoy the passing scenery.

Carriage 4 represents Summer with hollyhock as its motif. The carriage is decorated with iris and hollyhock motif and is also fitted with seats facing the windows.

Carriage 5 represents early autumn with silver grass as its motif. In the middle of the carriage, you can find a delightful miniature Japanese Garden traditionally found in Kyoto's wooden townhouses.

Lastly, Carriage 6 represents early spring with plum blossom as its motif. The carriage is spacious and comes with tatami-styled box seatings, giving passengers a feel of Kyoto in early spring.

With all these exclusive designs and features to bring out the ambience of the Kyoto experience, I am sure you must be thinking it will cost a bomb. Well, you only need to pay the regular fare, which is 400 Yen (S$4) and no reservation is required.

The journey takes 45 minutes but as you feel the ambience inside and soak in the sights outside, the journey feels like 15 mins.

So, when you plan your trip to Kyoto from Osaka, do consider this option.