Travel / Directions

DIRECTIONS BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT OR TAXI

SOIS will be providing buses from Senri Chuo before the fair and returning after the fair. If you are interested in taking a bus, please make a seat reservation by 1st of September 2019. Keep in mind that SOIS is unable to accommodate parking for cars, vans or buses. We strongly encourage you to utilize public transportation.

By public transport from central Osaka

  • If arriving by "shinkansen" train at Shin-Osaka station: leave "shinkansen area" on the 3rd floor of Shin-Osaka station and connect with Midosuji subway line on the 2nd floor of Shin-Osaka station. (Map of Shin-Osaka station)
  • Take either the Midosuji subway line to its terminus Senri Chuo OR the Hankyu Railways Senri line from Osaka Hankyu Umeda station to its terminus Kita Senri.
  • From either of these stations, then take either bus or taxi as detailed below:

Bus

  • Take the Hankyu Bus 78 from Senri Chuo Station, bus stop number 6 (centrally located next to the taxi pickup zone).
  • The same Hankyu bus will stop at Kita Senri Station and depart from bus stop number 5.
  • It takes approximately 25 minutes from Senri Chuo and 15 minutes from Kita Senri to Senri and Osaka International Schools.
  • SOIS will be providing buses from Senri Chuo station to SOIS and returning after the fair. If you are interested in taking a bus, please make a seat reservation by 1st September 2019.

Taxi

  • From Senri Chuo Station (10 minutes), Kita Senri Station (5 minutes), or Minoh Station (15 minutes) to Senri and Osaka International Schools.
      • SOIS Address: 〒562-0032 大阪府箕面市 小野原西4-4-16

4 Chome-4-16 Onoharanishi, Minoo, Osaka 562-0032

Transportation information resources:

  • Hankyu Bus timetable
    • Departures to and from Senri Chuo and Kita Senri from the school can be access here. (This is the new bus timetable starting from 1 April 2017).
  • Train timetables
    • Search in English from Hyperdia (not a great interface, but accurate and powerful - don't include spaces in station names when searching, just the first few characters of name is enough to start).
    • Jorudan (English/Japanese) offers a nicer look, but isn't quite as powerful in its search features.
  • Other resources:
SOIS-mapsx4.pdf

Japan Travel Tips:

  • Every train station has coin lockers. If you are in a hurry after leaving the conference and want to join friends for dinner, it is often easier to put your backpack in a coin locker rather than go back to your hotel.
  • Most ATM (bank machines) in Osaka work only with Japanese cards. ATMs at 7-11 stores usually work with foreign cards. When you arrive, you should use an ATM at the airport to get some local currency. This will avoid you wandering from machine to machine trying to find one that takes your card.
  • Many shops and restaurants are cash only. Some places take credit card, but not all. You should check first if you plan to use a credit card.
  • There is never any tipping. You don’t tip at restaurants, you don’t tip a taxi driver.
  • If you plan to take the train, you should get a ICOCA card. More information on ICOCA card.

It’s a reloadable RFID cash card (like an Oyster or Octopus card.) There is a 500 yen deposit on the card, which you can get back at the airport if you turn the card in. Estimate how much travel you’ll be doing and load cash on the card. You can get the card at the airport or at the first train station you visit. When you turn the card in, you won’t get a refund on any cash that’s still on it. However, nearly every store and vending machine takes ICOCA cards as payment. You could spend any that’s left on snacks and drinks at a 7-11 on the way to the airport or at the airport. It’s very convenient to have a loaded ICOCA card to use at vending machines.

NOTE: The local "train" cards (Osaka - ICOCA; Tokyo - SUICA) work interchangeably in both cities, so getting either ICOCA or SUICA will work for almost all your train needs in both cities.