Getting Around Otsu
Otsu is the capital of Shiga Prefecture, sitting on the southern and western shore of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The city is L-shaped, stretching along the lakeshore with hilly and mountainous terrain to the west and south, and it borders Kyoto to the west. That shape matters for getting around: most of what a visitor wants to see lies in a band along the lake, and the rail lines follow that band. Trains are the backbone of local travel, with buses, taxis and walking filling in the gaps.
Rail: JR and Keihan
Two rail operators serve Otsu, and understanding the difference between them is the key to moving around efficiently.
JR West runs the Biwako Line, a subsection of the Tōkaidō Main Line, which links Maibara, Otsu and Kyoto. Within Otsu, its stations include Otsu, Zeze, Ishiyama and Seta. Otsu Station is described as the city's central railroad station, while Ishiyama Station is the busiest. The JR Kosei Line serves the northern part of the city along the lake, with stations including Otsukyo, Karasaki, Hieizan Sakamoto, Ogoto-onsen, Katata and onward up the western shore.
Keihan Electric Railway operates two interurban lines that are especially handy for sightseeing:
- The Keishin Line, running from Otsu to Kyoto, with stations including Oiwake, Otani, Kamisakaemachi and Hamaotsu.
- The Ishiyama Sakamoto Line, which runs entirely within Otsu and connects each end of the city, so wherever you are there will likely be a station nearby. Its stations include Ishiyamadera, Keihan Ishiyama, Zezehonmachi, Keihan Zeze, Shimanoseki, Hamaotsu, Miidera, Ojiyama, Minami-Shiga, Sakamoto and others.
The two Keihan lines converge at Biwako-Hamaotsu, close to Lake Biwa, making it a natural transfer point. You can change between the JR and Keihan lines at three stations: Yamashina, Zeze and Ishiyama. Yamashina is just one stop from Kyoto Station on the JR, which makes it a useful interchange if you are coming from Kyoto.
Note that the Tōkaidō Shinkansen passes through Otsu but stops at no station in the city, so the bullet train is not an option for arriving or leaving locally.
Subway connections to Kyoto
Kyoto's Tōzai Line subway runs through onto the Keihan Keishin Line from stations in central Kyoto. This is a convenient option if you are connecting from the Keihan Main Line at Sanjō station, and it effectively extends the metro network into Otsu without a change of train.
Buses and other public transport
Buses fill in where the rails do not reach, and they are also the link to the airports (see below). Airport limousine buses connect Itami Airport with both Shin-Osaka and Kyoto, from which you continue by train. Beyond that, local bus services are the practical way to reach areas away from the rail corridors.
One distinctive local transport experience is the Sakamoto Cable, a funicular running from Cable Sakamoto Station to Cable Enryakuji Station, entirely within Otsu, with intermediate stops at Hōraioka and Motateyama. It is the way up toward Mount Hiei on that side of the city.
Taxis and ride-hailing
Taxis are available in Otsu, as in any Japanese city of its size, and are most useful for short trips where the rail network does not conveniently reach, or late at night.
Walkability
Otsu's layout is mixed for walking. The populated areas near the shore of Lake Biwa are described as densely populated alluvium depressions, and the central districts around Otsu Station and along the lakeshore are compact enough to explore on foot. The city as a whole, however, stretches from those lakeside areas into sparsely populated hilly and mountainous country to the west and south, including the Hira Mountains and Mount Hiei. Distances between the lakeside sights and the mountain areas are not walkable in practice, so treat walking as a way to cover a single district and use trains or buses to move between districts.
Getting in from the airport
Otsu has no airport of its own. The nearest major airports are Kansai International Airport (KIX) and Itami Airport (ITM), both in the Osaka area. Here are the practical routes:
- From Kansai Airport (KIX): take the JR Haruka Limited Express to Kyoto, then change to a local train to Otsu. Allow roughly an hour and three-quarters, and budget around ¥3,130 for unreserved seats.
- From Itami Airport (ITM), option one: take an airport limousine bus to Shin-Osaka (about 25 minutes, around ¥500), then a JR train to Otsu (about 35 minutes, around ¥840).
- From Itami Airport (ITM), option two: take a bus to Kyoto (about an hour, around ¥1,310), then a JR train to Otsu (about 10 minutes, around ¥200).
You can also change elsewhere to reach the Keihan lines rather than going via JR, depending on where in Otsu you are headed.
Practical summary
- Use JR for fast connections to Kyoto, Osaka and along the lakeshore; use Keihan for the Ishiyama–Sakamoto corridor and the Keishin Line into Kyoto.
- Transfer between JR and Keihan at Yamashina, Zeze or Ishiyama; change between the two Keihan lines at Biwako-Hamaotsu.
- From Kyoto, the Tōzai subway through-running onto the Keishin Line is often the simplest way in.
- Rely on buses for the airport links and for areas off the rail lines, and on the Sakamoto Cable for the Mount Hiei side.
- Walk within a district, not between districts — the city is long and stretches into the mountains.