Originally Posted by eatondt
1.) Ideas for spending some time in KIX. I arrive at 1720 and depart 0125. I've read some of the KIX posts, but I gotta confess, seeing the castle at Kyoto at night in February does not have great appeal.
Option 1: You can take the "Rapit" train of Nankai line to Namba Station (south part of Osaka), about 30 mins from KIX. Great nightlife area, lots (hundreds if not thousands) of shops, restaurants, pubs (japanese style as well as english style, noodle shops, etc. Just to the east of Namba is the Den Den town (similar to Tokyo Akihabara) for lots of consumer electronics and computer goods.
Option 2: Take the Nankai line Airport Express train 2 stops to Izumisano. Small town of between 100-200K, but several Japanese restaurants and pubs. Shops stay open until around 8pm.
Option 3: Take a JR line train to central Osaka. Similar to Option 1, but I find Option 1 more user friendly, esp. for non-Japanese speakers.
I can provide more detail on these if you want, and I could probably come up with a couple more.
My recommendation is Option 1, unless you don't want to travel too far afield. Then either stay within KIX or consider Option 2.