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Japan

Osaka: how to get there and around

Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.

Osaka is a city of 2.8 million people in Japan, 4 m (13 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Kyōbashi Station. It is a port city: Port of Osaka. Our booking partner lists 4,508+ places to stay.

Key facts

Population2.8 million
Elevation4 m (13 ft)
Area223 km²
Time zoneAsia/Tokyo (UTC+9 now)
CurrencyYen (JPY)
Dialling code+81
Driving sideLeft
Plug typesNEMA 1-15, NEMA 5-15
Postal codes26 codes, 017-0292 to 981-1596
UN/LOCODEJPOSA
People are calledOsakan
Coordinates34.694, 135.501
Osaka

Open Osaka in Google Maps

Daylight in Osaka runs from about 9 h 53 min a day in late December to 14 h 32 min in late June (computed for 34.69° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.

Getting there

Osaka is served by 3 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre, with a longest runway of 9,840 ft, which limits it to short and medium-haul aircraft. The alternatives are Kobe Airport (UKB, 26 km), Kansai International Airport (KIX, 38 km).

Flights to Osaka: every airport, routes and times

By rail: stations on record include Kyōbashi Station, Ōsaka Abenobashi Station, Ōsaka Namba Station, Shin-Imamiya Station, Ōsaka Uehommachi Station, Jūsō Station. Trains to Osaka

Buses to Osaka · Driving and car hire · Ferries

Where to stay

Our booking partner lists 4,508+ places to stay in Osaka (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 951 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (549), and 30 are five-star. Across 818 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.5 out of 10. Guests have left 1,129,118 reviews in total.

Hotels in Osaka: the full picture, and book

What people come for

Most-visited sights in Osaka with published visitor numbers (Wikidata)
SightVisitors a yearYear
Osaka Municipal Central Library1,393,1342019

The busiest is Osaka Municipal Central Library at 1,393,134 visitors in 2019. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.

Tours, tickets and day trips from Osaka

Nearby cities, and how to get between them

Twin towns and sister cities: San Francisco, São Paulo, City of Melbourne, Saint Petersburg, Milan, Chicago, Hamburg, Shanghai, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Manila, Aksaray, Dubai, Guadalajara.

Common questions

Which airport serves Osaka?

Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM), 11 km (7 mi) from the centre, plus 2 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.

How big is Osaka?

About 2.8 million people live in Osaka, across 223 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).

What time zone is Osaka in?

Asia/Tokyo, currently UTC+9.

What currency is used in Osaka?

The Yen (JPY). Traffic drives on the left.

How many hotels are there in Osaka?

Our booking partner lists 4,508 or more places to stay in Osaka, bookable on this site.

Which cities are near Osaka?

Tokyo (397 km), Yokohama (386 km), Nagoya (139 km), Kawasaki (394 km), Kobe (29 km).

Where these facts come from

  • GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
  • Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
  • OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
  • Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines

Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.