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I'm planning a cycling trip in Japan. I will need to make three connecting travels using public transports with my bike :

  • From Kansai airport (near Osaka) to Kyoto, and from Kyoto to the airport (my bike will already be in a bag for the plane trip)
  • From Kyoto to Onomichi
  • From Tokyo to Kyoto (or Osaka airport)

I'd prefer not booking (it'll depend of my progress on my bike, so the dates aren't reliable).

What are the (cheap) public transports available with bikes (I guess train and bus)? Are there some rules to follow (always booking, using a protection bag...)?

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    Do you really mean Osaka airport (ITM), or rather Kansai airport (KIX)? Not that it matters terribly, but...
    – fkraiem
    Commented May 2, 2017 at 9:55

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Trains are totally free to carry bike folded or at least front wheel removed and packed in a bag (even simplest plastic). Usual buses are similar to trains.

Highway buses are more complicated. Most of them don't allow bikes in any way. Some companies, who allow, demand bikes packed in the cardboard box. Best way is to call and ask (in Japanese only) before but sometimes I had situations when driver has different instructions than people in call center.

If you have cardboard box you can send bike by post. But in some cases price can be 20K yen.

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  • I packed my bike in trash bags. I had no problem in the Shinkansen between Kyoto and Hiroshima (JR West). But in the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto (Central JR) was more troublesome: my bike was first rejected. The station employees spent a great deal of time helping me (after rejecting my bike), and finally decided to put it on cardboards I had to buy. The final package was bigger than initially, but it was ok for them...
    – Shan-x
    Commented Dec 11, 2017 at 13:03

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