Leaving on a Jet Plane

No.

I'm not.

As much as my parents wish it were true. It isn't.

This one is more about how to get to the airport.

You see there are several exceptionally cheap methods to get to the airport that people ought to be informed about. Or at least people in Kansai.

So the first and my current favorite option is the bus. The regular pay for taking the airport bus on over to Kansai International Airport, from hereon being referred to as KIX, is 2500 yen. This is a one way trip. However, the trip is a little less than an hour and a half and you don't have to worry about your baggage at all and the bus's seats will recline and there is a toilet. So when you are going home or traveling to some place with a long stay and extra baggage, probably the better option for you so you don't have to worry about transporting your baggage as much. The discount deal for this transportation method, is that if you are coming back to Kyoto (note, that price is specific to Kyoto - it is 1500 for Osaka I think and 2000 for Ibarakishi) is that the ticket will be 4000 yen. Yeah, a pretty steep price, but it is 1000 yen off. The deal is only valid for 14 days, so if your travels are more than 2 weeks, it is sort of not worth it, because you will just waste more money and have to buy a new one. Though on the other hand, the guy accepting tickets might not check the date if you are lucky...

The bus schedule and prices for anyone who is interested.

Another way to get to the airport, which I cannot actually boast to have taken though it is my vow for next time, is via train. Which will vary from 1150 to 1830 to 2390 depending on your preference. Pretty much an unreserved seat will cost you 1150 yen, which I am certain that you will be able to find, unless there is a massive hoard of people setting out on an adventure that day. The regular fare of 1830 will guarantee your seat on the train and probably even assign it to you, so when some aimless shmuck without a seat reservation sporting an unreserved seating ticket is sitting in your seat, you can have all that glory of thrusting your little numbered ticket in his unassuming face telling him to high tail it out of there and that the town aint big enough for the both of yous. Ok maybe not all that, but that can be how it might feel. And lastly, the expensive ticket is pretty much the nice car. I have no idea what makes it nicer. Perhaps cushier seats or maybe they have the capacity to lean back, or maybe they come with butlers to take your drink orders for little fruity umbrellaed drinks, nothing like a little pre-vacation wishing before your vacation eh? In any case, those tickets are said to be for green seats, which probably is meant for an entire car of green colored seats, as opposed to green and other variously colored seats intermixed throughout all cars of the train. Though personally, I am a bit lost with this payment system...I am one of those fine upstanding citizens that have the little train/metro money card where, as in most places that have excellent public transportation, I just scan it and walk on through the gates to the proper train. And then it charges me for my journey after I swipe it upon exiting the gates at my destination. However I am under the impression that this special airport train will have an attendant who will come by and make you pay for your ticket once you are seated. So my question would be do you pay twice if you are using my little transport card in addition to paying the money grubbing wench on the train? Well I suppose I shall see on my next venture. In either case, and probably the better of scenarios, you can always buy a ticket at the train station office, at least there, you can buy a unreserved seat if you so desired where I am sure the train wench would charge you for whatever seat you happened to be cushioned in.

This train takes you all of an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the airport, however I would like to point out that it will likely arrive sub-terrain with possibly a bit of walking to the departures and check-ins floors as opposed to the bus which dumps you off right in front of the check in counters. I will edit more of course after my next vacation. 

The only down side to the train is carting that luggage to the actual check in counters, oh and the fact that it only runs once an hour. The bus will run several times an hour and therefore there is always safety in numbers. But then of course, if you miss your train, you can always take the bus as a back up. After all they are located at the same place. 

Also worth a note, a double train fare is cheaper than the special deal for the round trip bus (which is probably why I am curious-and by that I mean confused- about the payment methods and transactions when using the train).
EDIT!
Ok an edit to this one. I found out last weekend it is 2990 to go to the airport from Kyoto via train if you do not change from the Haruka Express. It is only 1830 if you change trains in Osaka, which is also a lot slower I think...

And finally the only other method I have actually taken before now, is the low cost slow train route to the airport. It takes probably more than two hours and you have to transfer like three times, but it is cheap. It costs 1200 yen from Kyoto to the airport, but there are different routes and prices for different areas in the Kansai region, which don't really seem to be well advertised, except for on the bus to and from the second LCC terminal of KIX airport. At least in the Kyoto region, you first start out taking the Hankyu lines heading toward Osaka and alighting at the Awaji station and exiting and transferring to the Nankai lines, from which you will disembark and transfer a final time to board the airport railroad trains. 

Due to the amount of transferring  this process is not recommended for those who have lots of bags. Pretty much used only by those few backpackers who have no money left from their travels in Japan. And people like me of course. 

Also worth a note, it is not really cost efficient to take this method of transportation to the airport and then return home on the bus if your trip will be within two weeks. 1200+2500=just not worth it and go buy a round trip bus ticket 300 yen is just not worth saving if you have to go through that much trouble with your bags. 

Ticket package and tickets for Hankyu and Nankai lines

awesome multilingual paper tail that no one reads

other deals for areas in Kansai

Things on a Train

In many cultures there are things that you should and should not do on a train.
In America, it is perfectly acceptable to eat on a train. There are even snack cars for it. But in Taiwan or Singapore don't dream of it. It is a fine-able offense.

There are similar rules in Japan as well. But the only super important one that will also apply to any bus you take is to not talk on your phone. There is only one car that will say not to use your phone. In fact it tells you to completely power it off. This is because that car is specifically for people with pacemakers. In the other cars phones are allowed and I am not even sure you could have any hope of preventing their usage, but you are not really allowed to talk on them. On the few occasions I have actually seen it happen (I think I have seen it 3 times in the 9 months I have been here), no one will stare you down...well not usually. If there is a particularly disgruntled old maid then perhaps you are in no such luck. Rather more often it is the opposite: people go out of their way to avoid looking at you and make displeased noises and faces.
So rule number one. Don't talk on your phone on the rail or buses, but using it is perfectly fine.

The next one is not really a rule per se but more of a cultural aspect. I have noticed you don't really eat or drink on trains or buses...Though night buses seem to be a bit more of an exception. The cultural part of this quirk comes from how Japanese people don't eat and walk. They believe that you must be sitting (almost anywhere) to eat for it to be acceptable. They also believe that you should enjoy your food (part of the reason why you should sit) and to partake in it leisurely so as to enjoy the flavors to the fullest. Remember this is a country that is very thankful for their food. When searching for a place to eat outside of an establishment a few places seem to be more acceptable than most; a park bench vs. in the alley at the backdoor to some establishment crouching on the ground. I am sure you get the picture. Well I think because when you are on a train you are actually sitting I think it must be occasionally acceptable. However the behavior isn't frequented likely because it makes the interior dirty or possibly because it is eating while transporting again. Granted walking and eating is a lot more physical than train riding and eating, they are both methods of commuting which is one of the only common grounds I can find between the two. If you do decide to eat or drink on a train...Well first of all drinking is just more acceptable over all. Especially in the summer. But if you decide to eat, people really do tend to look. It is not the stare down for talking on a phone kind of look it is more like a 'what's she eating? is it good?' kind of look.
With that here is rule number two: Don't frequent eating and drinking on trains.

And here is one last final things I have noticed.
Make up. Girls really love to put their make up on on trains. I mean the young ones going out for a night or a day. It is a fairly common event really, but you really get stared down for it. Also I can't imagine it being an easy take. All stations have bathrooms and I just think it would be significantly easier to do it while stationary and without having to juggle a mirror and all your cosmetics. The reason they get stared down is because they are seen as cheap by much of the Japanese population. A pro if you will. She may just be a normal girl going out for the night with some friends and didn't want her parents to see her with her new face on before she left (you know since most Japanese people do really live with their parents). But in Japan's eyes any classy kind of girl would not need to put make up on on a train and should go somewhere none public to adorn herself. Additionally Japan seems to really prefer a natural look for most women seeing make up, especially in excessive amounts, as severely cheap or trashy.