How to use the Osaka Amazing Pass, from buying it to the Dotonbori cruise

Start with which pass exists, since the name has covered more than one product. The pass sold from March 25, 2026 to March 31, 2027 costs 3,500 yen for 1 day and 5,000 yen for 2 days.^1,11 Two airport editions sit beside it: an Itami Airport version at 3,800 yen for 1 day and 5,400 yen for 2 days, and a Kansai International Airport 28-hour ticket at 5,300 yen.^12,13 The prices are the same for adults and children, and passes for children are not sold, so a child takes an adult pass.^2,14

Do not confuse it with the older pass. The Bureau's earlier Osaka Amazing Pass site says sales on that website are now closed and that it describes a pass valid until April 30, 2024.¹⁵ That site once advertised more than 40 sightseeing spots and unlimited trains and buses for a day, which is the idea the current pass keeps, now sold through a different site as a digital ticket.^16,3 When a blog quotes a price, check its date against the figures on the current pass site.

The current pass allows about 40 sightseeing spots and unlimited rides on all Osaka Metro lines and Osaka City Bus routes with some routes excluded, the New Tram, and Hankyu, Hanshin, Keihan, Kintetsu and Nankai trains mainly running in Osaka City.³ The pass site names Osaka Castle, the Umeda Sky Building Kuchu Teien Observatory, Tsutenkaku, the Tempozan Ferris Wheel and the Tombori River Cruise among the attractions.⁴ The airport editions add their own rides, covered below.

Here is how to use an Osaka Metro pass of this kind on trains: the phone shows a QR code that is scanned at any ticket gate that recognizes QR codes, one person at a time.¹⁸ On buses you hold the phone over the QR reader, and authentication is only required when exiting.²⁹ The Bureau gives the Osaka City Bus a flat fare of 210 yen on all sections with some exceptions, which is the sort of short hop the pass absorbs.³⁰ Keep the phone charged and the screen bright when you reach a reader.

At attractions you show the QR code to staff or scan it at a designated terminal, and each attraction may be used once during the validity period.³¹ The pass cannot be used by presenting a screenshot or a screen printout, so the live ticket page must open on the phone.¹⁹ Express reserved-seat trains of Kintetsu, Nankai, Keihan and Hankyu need an additional fee on top of the pass.³² The pass site also says regular fees listed for each facility do not have to be paid by a pass holder.³³

The airport editions work differently. The Kansai International Airport version allows a one-way Nankai Railway ticket from Kansai Airport Station to Namba Station, along with the Osaka City rides and about 40 attractions.²⁸ Namba to Kansai Airport Station is not allowed, so the pass cannot carry you back to the airport.³⁴ Namba Station is the hub next to Dotonbori. A first evening on the canal is a short walk from where that ticket drops you.