How to get taxi at Kansai Airport(KIX)

Do you want to take taxi from Kansai airport and get smooth transfer?

As of March 1, 2022, Japan government has eased coronavirus immigration restrictions. Check latest info from government website: Border measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) Travelers arriving in Japan now are allowed to use transportation such as train, bus and taxi.

Yet, due to the current situation with coronavirus (COVID-19), immigration procedures are still so complicated. You need to write a lot of documents and take PCR test etc after long flight. You’re already exhausted with long flights and corona paper works. But what if your house/hotel is away from the train station/ bus stop and you need to walk all the way with heavy luggages? I can hear you say It is too much!

In such a situation, it will be really nice if you can be transferred from the airport to your accomodation door-to-door by taxi.

In this article, I will show you how to get a taxi at Kansai Airport (KIX) terminal1 for those who want a smooth transfer to cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara.

Where is taxi stand at Kansai Airport?

So the first question that come up in mind is this: “where is the taxi stand at Kansai Airport?”. The taxi stand at Kansai Airport(terminal 1) is outside terminal building, located in between the limousine bus terminal and parking lot for general visitors.

In case, here is link for official page: Kansai Airport 1F International Arrival Floor map

how to get to taxi stand

After going through immigration, baggage claim and Customs, you will get to the arrival gate on the 1st floor (if you are taking an international flight). There are North arrival gate and South arrival gate.

As of now 2022 April, South arrival gate is closed because of coronavirus (COVID-19). All passengers arriving at Kansai International airport will go through North gate

Once you arrive at the arrival lobby, you will go out of the terminal building through either of exit 1F-A to 1F-G.

There is a map board and you can see the taxi stand is between the bus terminal and public car stand.

There you will see limousine bus stop in front of building.

Pass by the limousine bus stop and cross at the pedestrian crossing.

There you will find taxi stand. Very easy, right?

Details of taxi stand at Kansai International Airport(KIX)

Taxi stand at Kansai International Airport is divided into 7 stands depending on the destination and purpose.

Here I show you details one by one.

Taxi Stand No.2 Bound for Wakayama

Taxi stand for Wakayama area. Get a taxi from here if your destination is Wakayama-shi(和歌山市), Kainan-shi(海南市), Arida-shi(有田市), Mihama-cho(美浜町), Gobo-shi(御坊市), Shirahama-cho(白浜町), Kushimoto-cho(串本町), Nachikatsuura-cho(那智勝浦町), Shingu-shi(新宮市)

Taxi Stand No.3 Short distance area

This is the taxi stand for areas that are close to Kansai International Airport. There are no clear line for long distances, but I recommend you to take a taxi from this stand if the destination is less than 30km.
The recommended area from this taxi stand is as below.
Takaishi-shi(高石市), Izumi-shi(和泉市), Kishiwada-shi(岸和田市), Izumisano-shi(泉佐野市), Kaizuka-shi(貝塚市), Izumiotsu-shi(泉大津市).

[main] Taxi Stand No.5 long distance area

This is the taxi stand for long distance area. As you probably know, Kansai International airport is located a bit outside of central town area. So most likely this taxi stand is the one most of travelers will take.

The recommended area from this taxi stand is cities which are more than 30km away from the airport as below.
Osaka(大阪), Kyoto(京都), Nara(奈良), Hyogo(兵庫).

Taxi Stand No.1 & 7 for Reserved Taxi

This taxi stand is for private transfer or chauffeur service. You will use this taxi stand when you are applying for a private transfer company including us, Kens Osaka Taxi. If you want to know what exactly private transfer service is, please check 5 differences between private transfer service and public taxi?.

2 Points to be careful of when taking taxi in Japan

I took a brief look at Kansai Airport taxi stand, but here I would like to give you some tips regarding taking a taxi in Japan.
As you probably know, public language in Japan is Japanese. Especially because the average age of taxi drivers in Japan is around 60 years old, most drivers do not communicate in English. There is a high chance that the driver can’t understand your urgent request such as “Change the destination to this address” or “Drop in the convenience store because I need this”. Additionally, Taxi in Japan is based on meter system and you would never know how much you need to pay right until the taxi arrives at destination. It is very hard to communicate when there is a trouble such as “the fare is more than expected”.

For this reason, I recommend you to practice basic Japanese before taking a taxi in Japan. If you are worried about any trouble, I recommend you to apply for private transfer service as their fare is fixed rate.

Okay, I hope I explained how to get a taxi at Kansai International airport well, and also some points you need to be careful when you take a taxi in Japan. Though it’s still hard to travel abroad because of coronavirus (COVID-19), I hope this article helps you!