JR Haruka Kansai Airport Express

The JR Haruka Kansai Airport Express is the fastest and most direct rail connection between Kansai International Airport (KIX) and the major cities of the Kansai region — Tennoji, Osaka, Shin-Osaka, and Kyoto — making it a top choice for travelers heading into the city immediately after landing. The limited express train covers the KIX-to-Kyoto route in approximately 75 minutes, with departures roughly every 30 minutes from Kansai Airport Station.

Designed with comfort in mind, the Haruka features reclining, 180-degree rotating seats (allowing groups to face each other or all face the direction of travel), dedicated luggage storage space, and onboard Wi-Fi. Green Class (First Class) carriages are available at the front of the train for travelers seeking extra comfort. Some services run as the specially decorated Hello Kitty Haruka, a popular option among visitors.

For 2026, the ticket is available as a WEST QR E-Ticket, allowing travelers to skip station ticket queues entirely and board using just a QR code on their smartphone, in addition to the traditional physical ticket redeemable at green ticket machines. This discounted one-way ticket is exclusively available to travelers holding a foreign passport with Temporary Visitor status, and cannot be used by Japanese nationals or permanent residents.

Overview

Theme: Designing Future Society for Our Lives

Subthemes: Saving Lives Empowering Lives Connecting Lives

Concept: People's Living Lab

1. A space where 8 billion people from around the world will not only view exhibits but will co-create our future society.

2.Even before the Expo begins, an online platform for sharing challenges and solutions from around the world will be launched.

3.A place where the world’s knowledge such as cutting-edge technology will be brought together, used to create new ideas, and shared, all to help resolve global issues facing mankind.

Purpose

World Expo has both cohesive and communication capabilities. We will use these capabilities as a trigger to sustain growth and development of Osaka, Kansai as well as Japan following on from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

What is a World Expo?

A World Expo is an event that brings together people and innovations from around the world in an effort to address issues facing humankind on a global scale. The Osaka Expo 1970, Japan’s, and Asia’s, first ever, became a symbol of Japan’s rapid economic growth and one of the country’s most lauded events. Twenty years after the Aichi Expo 2005, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will bring the international community back to Japan.

A World Exposition is a place, where new technologies and products are born, triggering greater convenience in our daily lives.

Elevator (New York Exhibition, 1853), telephone (Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, 1876)

Family restaurants, wireless telephones, electric cars, moving sidewalks (Expo 1970 Osaka)

Entry tickets embedded with IC chips, AED, dry mist (Aichi Exposition, 2005)

Goals of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai

• To contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Achievement of Japan’s national strategy Society 5.0

EXPO for SDGs

In 2025, the world will be a mere five years away from 2030, the year the United Nations has set as the target for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

making it a crucial one for ramping up efforts to achieve these goals. Therefore, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai will become a key platform for reaching the SDGs by 2030.

The key is “Society 5.0”

“Society 5.0” is Japan’s national strategy to develop a human-centered society that progresses economically and resolves social issues through a system that combines both cyber and physical spaces in a sophisticated manner. It refers to a new form of society chronologically following hunting, farming, industry, and information societies. A society that is able to resolve a variety of issues on a global scale with technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, big data, and biotechnology is a society that will have achieved the SDGs.

What we will realise at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai

1. Bringing together the wisdom of the world, including breakthrough technologies, to create and communicate new ideas
2. Expansion of domestic and overseas investment
3. Creation of innovation through activation of human interaction
4. Activation of regional economies and small and medium enterprises
5. A chance to communicate the wealth of Japan’s culture

The multiple merits of a world expo held in Osaka, Kansai, Japan

1. Activation of Japan’s economy and the Osaka, Kansai regional economy, and strengthened management of small and medium enterprises resulting from expanded business opportunities are expected to have an economic ripple effect of about JPY 2 trillion.
2. Further development of Osaka, Kansai’s world-class life sciences and biomedical achievements through new innovation in line with Expo’s theme.
3. Further enrichment of Osaka, Kansai’s proud, long history and culture through interaction with foreign cultures, and elevation of its global recognition.
4. Enabling Japan’s young, next-generation creators in a variety of fields to communicate their talents to the world.
5. Japan possesses one of the safest environments and most advanced transport infrastructure in the world, and Osaka, Kansai can be easily accessed from major cities in the world.