{"id":6177,"date":"2024-05-29T10:39:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T01:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/riding-kansais-hello-kitty-haruka\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:33:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:33:35","slug":"riding-kansais-hello-kitty-haruka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/riding-kansais-hello-kitty-haruka\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding Kansai\u2019s Hello Kitty HARUKA"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is now an extra-fun way to reach Osaka and Kyoto from Kansai International Airport<\/a>: the Hello Kitty HARUKA train. It\u2019s not just for fans of Hello Kitty (although they will likely be most excited to ride this train) \u2014 it\u2019s a fun experience for all passengers.<\/p>\n

What are the Hello Kitty HARUKA Trains?<\/h2>\n

HARUKA are super-express trains featuring a Hello Kitty design inside and out. The express train itself has been running since the opening of Kansai International Airport in 1994, but the Hello Kitty design wasn\u2019t introduced until 2019. Originally, though, only six HARUKA trains featured the theme. Their huge popularity led all the trains to receive the makeover by 2021.<\/p>\n

What Do the Trains Look Like?<\/h2>\n

The super-express train used to have a sleek white body. This is now covered with a traditionally-inspired floral motif along with the famous Hello Kitty character, created by Sanrio<\/a>. The result is intended to be both timeless and kawaii.<\/p>\n

There are now four different designs, meaning you may have a difference experience if you go to and from the airport a few times. The designs are called:<\/p>\n

Butterfly<\/strong> \u2014 A navy blue and red design featuring butterflies and blossoms
\nOri-Tsuru<\/strong> \u2014 Meaning origami crane, it has a pink color palette featuring folded paper cranes
\nKanzashi<\/strong> \u2014 Featuring ornamental hairpins, combs, and other traditional hair embellishments
\nOugi<\/strong> \u2014 Japanese folding fans feature in the design along with four-leaf clovers in an earthy color palette<\/p>\n

The interior features the same pattern as the exterior in places like the doors, walls, and restrooms. Although there is no merchandise for sale in the train, you can purchase souvenirs like mugs and tote bags at the Kyoto Railway Museum Shop and online at the Train Box store.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no food to purchase onboard, but there is free Wi-Fi and charging ports.<\/p>\n

The Route<\/h2>\n

From Kansai International Airport, you can take the HARUKA to Tennoji (a 35-minute journey), Shin-Osaka (a 50-minute journey), and Kyoto Station (a 80-minute journey). Of course, you can also take the same route in reverse to reach Kansai International Airport. It\u2019s the only line running directly between the airport and Kyoto.<\/p>\n

Purchasing a Ticket<\/h2>\n

If you have a Japan Rail Pass<\/a>, you won\u2019t need to purchase a ticket for the HARUKA train. However, it may be worth making a seat reservation (which is free), as the train is popular and does fill up during peak season. The busiest times are Golden Week and Obon.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have a JR Rail Pass, you\u2019ll need to purchase an unreserved, reserved, or green seat. Green is first class in a luxury carriage, also available for an additional fee for JR Rail Pass holders (or free for Japan Rail Green Pass holders). Purchase tickets at the Travel Service Center ticket counter at the airport or from the Green ticket machines.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re heading to Kyoto from the airport, taking the HARUKA makes sense, as it\u2019s the only way to avoid changing trains. Although you have more options if you\u2019re traveling between the airport and Osaka, it\u2019s worth opting for HARUKA for the added experience of Hello Kitty on the train.<\/p>\n

SEASONposter<\/a>, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is now an extra-fun way to reach Osaka and Kyoto from Kansai International Airport: the Hello Kitty HARU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,86,82],"tags":[223,625,138,461],"class_list":["post-6177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kyoto","category-osaka","category-travel","tag-kansai","tag-sightseeing","tag-trains","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49617,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6177\/revisions\/49617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}