As far as I can tell, the first trains leave Kyoto station for KIX at about 6am. The flight I'd like to take is at 10am.

Am I going to have trouble getting from downtown Kyoto to KIX in time (given luggage checkin, etc.)? Never been to Japan before. It will be a Saturday or Sunday morning in July, btw. (Is one of those two days better than the other?)

I've done the same thing recently. You should simply ask the hotel to call a taxi. I did it in the morning when I woke up, as opposed to the night before.

The good thing is, traffic at that early time of the day is minimum. I stayed at Fujita Hotel (near New Otani) but recall it took only about 10-15min to the station.

There are escalators at the station, though it did take me a bit to find out KIX train platform. There are enough english signs, but it's just the station is big. You may want to check beforehand how to get to the platform.


Another thing you can try is to see if you can check in on-line. That way, you may not have to show up at the airport full 2hrs but more like 1-1.5hrs. (Don't recommend if you're travelling the last weekend in July, as I suspect it may be busier with the school being out etc.)

If you are droppd off on the central entrance (facing Kyoto Tower) of the station, the platform for Haruka Express is on the same level just to the right (platform 30) of the ticket barriers.
For 10 am flight, you should be at KIX by 8 am, so reserve your seats on Haruka #3 departing Kyoto at 6.22 am and arriving KIX at 7.42 am.
There should be plenty of taxis cruising along the main streets around 5.30 am, or ask the hotel to call one for you.
As July weekends fall in the peak travel period, make sure you have reserved seats for Haruka.

Thanks for your responses! I decided ultimately to make life less stressful by instead taking a 5:15pm departure from KIX, which gives me more wiggle room.

Thanks for the advice on reserving the Haruka Express. I've found timetables on Hyperdia . . . but is there a way I can actually buy my Shinkansen and Haruka Express tickets before I arrive in Japan?

My understanding is that you can purchase Japan rail passes from the US, but not individual train tickets on the JR Haruka Express.

I found this site to be very helpful on this topic:

http://www.japanrail.com/

No need to rserve seats before arrival - just make sure you do so a day or two in advance of travel at the nearest Midorino Madoguchi (long-distance ticket office).