Expert: Steve Battisti - 10/23/2009

Question
Upon arrival at the Osaka Intl Airport, how easy is it to by a ticket to Hiroshima?  Understand you need connect in Shin Osaka - correct?  Is this easy for English speaking person?

Answer
Cindy, I'm very sorry for the delay in responding to this, it somehow got stuck in my spam filter!

The answer to your question is . . . somewhere in the middle. Osaka International and most of the large train stations in Japan are very good about having English signs. So, I think it's relatively simple to find things.

However, you should be aware that despite the signs, there are relatively few Japanese workers in such places with more than a rudimentary grasp of English. So, there's a chance you could get to the front of the line and then run into language problems. In these cases, patience, slow speech, and having things in writing would help.

To balance this out, on the other hand, most of the people I met in Japan are very interested and willing to help you figure it out. But I'm still hard-pressed to promise you that it will be "easy."

It would help to be as prepared as possible. Are you planning on taking a bullet train to Hiroshima? It would be best to know the types of trains you are planning on taking, and importantly in Japan, the COMPANY that runs the trains. Japan has public and private rail lines, which can confuse things.

If you know specific dates and times, you should be able to plan this in advance with some specificity.

I hope this helps!

Steve