So I am planning my first ever trip to Japan. I’m quite excited! I’ve always wanted to go to the Naruto park in Nijigen no Mori and stay at one of the villas at Grand Chariot. So my question is. Would you recommend I take a plane to Kobe or Osaka? How would I go about reaching Awaji Island after I land? And then how do I reach the park itself? Sorry for the multiple questions but I’ve been reading a lot on it but I just want the Reddit community opinion.
10 comments
It looks like there’s a bus directly from ITM: [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Osaka+International+Airport+(ITM),+3+Chome-555+Hotarugaike+Nishimachi,+Toyonaka,+Osaka,+Japan/Nijigen+no+Mori,+2425-2+Kusumoto,+Awaji,+Hyogo,+Japan/@34.6825251,135.0810714,11z/am=t/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x6000f06df58777b9:0x7411a874d9df4cd!2m2!1d135.4377695!2d34.7863123!1m5!1m1!1s0x3554d360c5296481:0xe284d41c875ab94e!2m2!1d135.0008143!2d34.5745243!3e3](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Osaka+International+Airport+(ITM),+3+Chome-555+Hotarugaike+Nishimachi,+Toyonaka,+Osaka,+Japan/Nijigen+no+Mori,+2425-2+Kusumoto,+Awaji,+Hyogo,+Japan/@34.6825251,135.0810714,11z/am=t/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x6000f06df58777b9:0x7411a874d9df4cd!2m2!1d135.4377695!2d34.7863123!1m5!1m1!1s0x3554d360c5296481:0xe284d41c875ab94e!2m2!1d135.0008143!2d34.5745243!3e3)
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Edit to add: It looks like that bus is an easier option than what the park suggests on their own website: [https://nijigennomori.com/access/](https://nijigennomori.com/access/)
First you need to find out which airport you can actually conveniently fly into. Kobe, Osaka or Kansai. It’s most likely the latter, but either way, there are options to get to the theme park from all of these – so figure out what airport you want to get into first and foremost.
Go to Kobe- but you’ll have to transfer from NY to San Fran or something. NY no longer goes direct to Kansai.
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Hi, OP. When are you planning on going? Because the borders to Japan are closed to foreign tourists for the foreseeable future. Sorry!
I usually fly out of NYC, and the only direct-flight destinations in Japan are the Tokyo area unless something changes (Narita and Haneda).
According to [this site](https://travel.gaijinpot.com/nijigen-no-mori-awaji-island-anime-park/), there are shuttle busses to and from the theme park from Osaka and Kobe. Your best bet is probably to plan to go to one of those cities via shinkansen and use the shuttle bus to and from Awaji Island.
If you look at the access page that someone else linked, there is highway bus from the 3 airports to the park or a place that have a shuttle bus to the park. For sure Kobe is closer, but I would say it is not what matter the most.
So realistically, from New York you will always need to to one transfer. Possibly in SFO or LAX if you go to KIX. Otherwise, will need to transfer in Tokyo. Some options might be harder, for example to fly to Kobe, you have to transfer at Haneda and take ANA from there, so less options than to fly in Narita.
Personally, I would compare the price of the tickets to the 3 different airports and the total time required as there might be long layover depending on the schedule between the two flights. Just take the one that is the shortest and cheapest. You can put different options in the price tracker fin Google Flights and go with the one that get you the best price and schedule.
One thing you might want to check when more regular schedule come back is the time the plane land and the bus schedule. For example even if Kobe is closer, if you were to land at 9:30 PM, ~~account for 1h to pass custom/immigration and~~ it might be too late to get to the Park right away. So if there is no option for Kobe to land in time for the bus, then forget it.
And do you plan to only go there when going to Japan ? If not, there is no rush to get there the first night ?
Have you tried the website Rome2Rio?
If flying into Tokyo, the most sensible way would be to spend a night near Shinagawa station and then:
* take a shinkansen to Shin-Kobe, subway to Sannomiya and bus to Awaji IC/Nijigen no mori (and possibly shuttle from Awaji IC)
* take a shinkansen to Nishi-Akashi, local train to Akashi (reverse direction, one station), boat/ferry to Iwaya and then a shuttle to Nijigen no Mori
If flying into KIX, the most sensible way would be to spend a night in Osaka or Kobe and then take a local train to either Sannomiya/Akashi and follow the route mentioned above.
I went there last January (right before COVID). This is the route I took but I was already staying in Osaka and things after COVID might have changed so keep that in mind.
Osaka-Namba Station -> Kobe Sannomiya Station via Hastings Express (10 stops)
Kobe Sannomiya Bus Terminal (follow the signs) -> Awaji Interchange via bus (2 stops)
Walking around 20 mins to get to the entrance of the park. Nijigen no Mori has more than just the Naruto Shinobizato so you have to just keep walking after the ‘entrance’ until you get to the Konoha gates lol. There’s other parks like Crayon Shin-chan there too.
1 way trip took about 2 hours and cost ~¥1200.