JR Shin Osaka Station

I like this station much better than the Osaka station. The service personnel is more friendly and nicer, I think because the Osaka station people are more busy and tired from handling the commuter. I was on Shinkansen and 10 secs out the station when I tried to checkin I was too far away already!!!

Major transfer point during Japan teavel with Japan Rail Pass. If you come from Tokyo, you can go to down town Osaka or Kobe area by local trains or subway, also you can ride express train for Tottori, Kanazawa, Wakayama and other destinations Western Japan.
Inside the station building, a lot of gift shop and restaurants, some of new product display facilities, so if your train delayed, you can spend your time effectively.
Osaka (Itami) airport is located near this station, you can see many of aircraft flight over the station. You can get the airport by bus about 40 minutes (depends on traffic condition).

Leaves from Shin Osaka great to get a seat without a reservation. The place to connect the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen. Especially if you have the JR ALL JAPAN RAIL PASS. BECAUSE you can’t ride the Nozomi and Mizuho. All the Sakura Shinkansen have a/​c outlets to charge your phones and other portable devices. Many Shinkansen only have a/​c in the front and side seats. Some of the northern Shinkansen you must get a reserved seat to ride. Just go to the JR office and get your tickets. Remember you must turn you voucher in to get your train pass. In the Kanto area ShinYokohama has the best hours. Don’t forget to get a train time table and ask them to use.

Shin Osaka Station. I’ve been through many train stations and subways. There is no train or subway system that beats Japan. Japan’s system is efficient, fast and on time. There is no delay. The Shinkansen seats are roomier than any American airline. There is plenty of leg and elbow room. I felt like I was in first class. However, the first class feeling quickly ended when I realized I was on the wrong train and got kicked off.
Shin Osaka should not be mistaken for the Osaka station. The Shin Osaka is the station for the Shinkansen and the Osaka station is for local transportation. The Shin Osaka is one stop away from the Osaka station and vice versa. In addition, I would suggest investing in a JR Pass cause it definitely pays for itself. I used it from NRT to Tokyo, Kyoto to Tokyo, Tokyo to Osaka, Osaka to Tokyo, Tokyo to NRT and any JR subway around Japan. However, you just can’t take the Nozomi bullet train, which is the fastest bullet train in Japan.
Lastly, the train stations are pretty easy to navigate and there are signs in Japanese and English. You just need to know what platform and which direction you’re heading in.

Shin-​Osaka is a convenient station that is smaller than Osaka station but still provides you access to get where you need to go. The dining options here are not all that bad although I do find myself getting a bento box and taking it on the train nearly every time I’m here. The Shinkansen actually arrives and departs from this location which makes it easy to get in and out of Osaka and direct to Tokyo in about 2.5 hours.
Pros–
Location
Shinkansen
Direct routes
Easy in and out
Cons–
Limited dining options
Crowded

Pues veréis, los viajes a Japón suelen ser lo mas parecido a la ingeniería, todo suele ser automático, esta programado y probado milimetricamente, pero como en todo, el componente humano no está introducido en la ecuación y en este caso estuvimos muy cerca de liarla muy parda en nuestra visita a la estación de Osaka.
Elegimos el tren de vuelta de Hiroshima tarde, con el fin de que nos diera tiempo de ver el museo de la Paz y llegáramos a Kyoto para hacer noche y pasar por el Fushimi Inari (una historia mítica, que contaremos en otro capitulo). Para poder hacer esta raruna combinación, debíamos hacer Hiroshima-​Osaka y cambiar de tren bala a un tren regional al otro lado de la estación en menos de 10 minutos ¿Os imagináis una situación así en España? Solo de pensarlo me da la risa.
Pues efectivamente, los nipones pueden y deben hacerlo, el tren llego con puntualidad casi británica, anunciaron por megafonía en que anden teníamos el enlace a Kyoto y tuvimos 10 minutos para cambiar de tren, estaba cerquita gracias a una salida especial y para colmo muy bien señalizado, hasta el punto de que nos dio tiempo a comprarnos una fanta de piña y unos caramelos de los moomin … ¿El único problema? Que los trenes regionales no vienen traducidos al alfabeto romaji (el occidental vamos) y si no llego a saberme los kanjis de «kyoto» podríamos haber aparecido en Parla fácilmente.
Tiene wifi gratis y varios restaurantes de ramen y tonkatsu que aunque no nos dio tiempo a visitar, parecían muy muy apetecibles,
Una experiencia !!

This is the Shin-​Osaka JR Rail station in Osaka.
NOT to be confused with JR Osaka station.
This station is home to JR Shinkansen «Bullet» trains.
HUGE !!! but relatively easy to manage. I’m sure it would be easier without luggage and twins in tow, but there are tons of elevators and escalators to make the travel chaos much more manageable. Thankfully, most all of the signage is subtitled in English, making those of us that are Japanese illiterate not look too foolish. And if you ask at the ticket turnstiles they’ll give you an «English» subway map and direct you to wherever you need to go.
Everything is so damn efficient here. I wish public transportation in the U.S. would work this well. And everyone seems to be super nice and helpful … This is NOTHING like NYC.

The Shin-​Osaka train station appeared older and smaller than the train station in Tokyo. Construction was occurring when we were there, so some of it was pretty trashed. What I am really wanting to review is a tiny, hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant in the station!
My hubby had spoken about the place after returning from a business trip to Osaka. I mean, if he talks about a restaurant rather than other things in Japan, it had to be good. We had breakfast there 3 mornings and it was DELISH! Unfortunately, I do not know the name of it since I don’t speak the language, but I did take some photos.
First thing you do when you arrive to this teeny-​tiny eatery is buy a food ticket from the machine, this deciding what you wanted. Smart idea, if you think about it. Hand the ticket to the cook, and take a seat.
The breakfast we purchased was a baked egg (think scrambled, then baked in a pan), a big bowl of steaming hot udon soup, rice, and pickled vegies. OMG– my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Lots of food to fuel us through the day. Cold green tea is free and is customary in restaurants, replacing plain water. The tab for all of this goodness was equivalent to around $ 5 a piece.
I am attaching a few photos, so if any of you recognize the restaurant, I would love to know the name of it! And if you plan to visit Osaka, seriously keep this place in mind. You will not be disappointed.

This is a good and well organized station center in Osaka. I use this station for Shinkansen from Tokyo. This station is huge so you would see many souvenir shops all over this station where you can get things related to Osaka or Kansai.
This station is very big and you might think it is confusing to change trains or go around, but there are enough sings in English as well, so I think it is traveler’s friendly. Even I a not good at direction and I first came here alone, I did not lost. Just follow the signs you can see on your head and it guides you the place you would like to go.
You know the transport in Japan is awesome. So the trains are always on time. If there are a few minutes delay, you would hear announce of apology on the trains or at the station.
The staffs at the station are not always able to speak English but they are kind enough to do their best to help you when you are in trouble by using any tools including pictures and gestures. So you do not need to hesitate to ask in English. I am sure they would be happy to help you.