Like Chicago, the American city it is most often compared to, Osaka is a major train junction connecting eastern and western Japan. With the last bit of a new shinkansen route now decided and plans moving forward for a new municipal line that will zip visitors from Osaka's bullet train station to Kansai airport much quicker than before, the city hopes it will become ever-more convenient for tourists to stay in town for a while before heading off to Kyoto, Ishikawa, Hiroshima or Tokyo.
Earlier this month, the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition finalized plans for the last section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka Station. The line, expected to be completed midcentury, will link the Sea of Japan coast city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, with Shin-Osaka Station in less than 1½ hours.
The leg from Kanazawa to Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, is expected to open around 2022. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, who represents a Fukui district it will stop in, and her supporters hope the route between Kanazawa and the city of Fukui will open before the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 to allow residents to hop on the Hokuriku bullet train to Kanazawa and then board the Nagano bullet train for Tokyo, a trip that would take hours less than is currently the case with regular express trains.
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