1 / 10Kyoto, on a long callPhoto: Luka Peternel / CC BY-SA 4.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 10 photographs, every one credited.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
About an hour each way from the ship to Kyoto Station, and 75 minutes to Fushimi Inari or Gion — about 30 minutes of it the JR special rapid from Osaka Station. On a 12-hour call that leaves a real half-day. Pick one district and walk it properly.
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Skip" — the train alone is about 2½ hours of the call. do osaka castle or dotonbori instead; kyoto needs about 8 hours.
- Unverified — the shrine's english pages that we opened give no gate times and no fee; kyoto's tourism site recommends the late afternoon and early evening for the atmosphere..
- This needs 7 hr, so it only fits a 9-hour call or longer. On a shorter one it will cost you the ship, not the view.
Why Kyoto, on a long call is famous
Fushimi Inari has about 10,000 vermilion torii climbing a mountain, each one donated by a business or family asking Inari for prosperity, a custom that spread in the Edo period. It is among the most visited places in Kyoto. From Osaka Station it is about forty-five minutes with one change, and more from the cruise berth, which makes it a long-call decision.
Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of the roughly 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, enshrined in 711 according to the shrine's own history. What brings visitors is the path up Mt Inari (233 m): the shrine says around 10,000 torii of every size line the mountain paths, and the tunnel of vermilion gates at Senbon Torii is one of the most photographed sights in Japan.
You arrive at Inari Station and the shrine is right in front of it. There is the main gate Hideyoshi paid for in 1589 (the Romon), the large main hall rebuilt in 1499, and then the gates begin behind it. There are stone altars all the way up, a halfway tea stall and shop, and a lookout over Kyoto at one of the shinseki (sites of former shrines). The Japan National Tourism Organisation says the full circuit takes two to three hours.
The catch is distance and legs. It is over an hour each way with three changes in our route-planner sample, and the path climbs 233 metres. On a short call, do not go: Osaka has Dotonbori, the castle and the aquarium on the doorstep. On a long call, choose this over a rushed Kyoto-in-general, and do only the lower section if your knees say so.
Things worth knowing
- Take the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station: Inari is the second stop, about 5 minutes, per the shrine. The shrine stands right next to the station.
- Keihan line's Fushimi-inari Station is another way in, about 5 minutes' walk east to the shrine according to the shrine and the national tourism site.
- Go up as far as your legs choose and turn round. The national tourism site notes a souvenir shop and tea stall about halfway.
- The national tourism site suggests late morning to mid-afternoon; Kyoto's tourism site likes late afternoon for atmosphere. On a ship day, pick the time that gets you back to the train with margin.
Where the 7 hr goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
75 minutes each way is the measured figure for subway + jr ~75 min, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 4 hr 30 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions people send us
How do I get from the Osaka cruise terminal to Fushimi Inari?
Walk about 5 minutes to Osakako station, then take the Chuo line and JR trains (JR Special Rapid) to Kyoto and the JR Nara Line two stops to Inari Station. A Yahoo! Japan route search gave 1 h 15 min and ¥1,200 with IC for a 09:00 departure; Kyoto Station was about 55 minutes away. The shrine is next to Inari Station.
How long does Fushimi Inari take?
The Japan National Tourism Organisation says touring the mountain takes two to three hours. The lower torii alone is much shorter, about an hour including the main buildings.
Is Kyoto doable from Osaka on a cruise call?
On a call of about eight hours or more, one district, yes. On a short call, no. Pick one place, as the transfer is over an hour each way.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
Eat · ~2h incl. subwayTakoyaki on Dotonbori, standing
Invented in this city in 1935 — batter, a cube of octopus, turned in a cast-iron dimple plate with a pick.
See the detail
See · ~2hDotonbori after dark
A canal walled with the loudest signage in Japan.
See the detail
See · ~3hOsaka Castle
Hideyoshi built it, the Tokugawa destroyed it in 1615 and rebuilt it, lightning burned the keep in 1665, and the current tower is 1931 concrete with a lift to the 5th floor.
See the detail