Kyoto eSIM

In Kyoto you connect to KDDI or SoftBank, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 74 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.

Networks: KDDI and SoftBank
Real speed in Japan: 74 Mbps median, 21 Mbps for the slowest tenth1,284 travellers across Japan, rolling 90 days
5G: yes, standalone and non standalone
Throttle: None on metered plans
Tethering: Allowed on every plan

Plans that cover Kyoto

Data plans for Japan
Data	Validity	Price per GB	Price
1 GB	Never expires	$5.89	$5.89
3 GB	Never expires	$2.96	$8.89
5 GBMost travellers	Never expires	$2.18	$10.89
10 GB	Never expires	$1.59	$15.89
20 GB	Never expires	$1.19	$23.89
50 GB	Never expires	$0.94	$46.89

A single carrier provider cannot make this move.

All Japan plans Asia regional plan Japan coverage No service after landing

How Japan compares across Asia

Speed rank: 6 of 26 destinations we sell in Asia
Regional median: 44 Mbps
Consistency: The slowest tenth still reaches 28 percent of the median
Upstream networks: 2, KDDI, SoftBank
5G: Yes, standalone and non standalone
Next fastest nearby: Macau, 84 Mbps
Next slowest nearby: Malaysia, 61 Mbps
Cities with their own page: 5: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Sapporo, Fukuoka
tenth percentile: 21 Mbps
Behind these figures: 1284 travellers, rolling 90 days

Landing at Kansai International Airport (KIX)

Airport: KIX / RJBB
Also serves: Osaka Itami Airport (Osaka International Airport) (ITM)

Getting into Kyoto

Haruka limited express (JR West) to Kyoto Station (KIX), about 73 minutes
Kansai Airport Limousine Bus to Kyoto Station Hachijoguchi (KIX), about 85 minutes

Underground and on the metro

Kyoto Municipal Subway runs 2 lines. It opened in 1981. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.

Worth knowing about Kyoto

Kyoto has no commercial airport of its own; arrivals come through Kansai International, from which the Haruka limited express reaches Kyoto Station in 73 minutes.
Kyoto's subway is small by Japanese standards just two lines, the Karasuma and Tozai, opened in 1981 and run by the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau.
Kyoto Station is the gateway terminal for the Tokaido Shinkansen plus five JR West conventional lines, one Kintetsu line and one municipal subway line.
KYOTO Wi-Fi uses the SSID KYOTO Wi-Fi and logs users in through a Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! JAPAN account, or through a typed ID and password. No Japanese phone number is part of the process.
At public facilities KYOTO Wi-Fi requires the authentication step to be repeated once every 30 minutes. Service at city bus stops ended on 31 March 2025 and service at some public facilities ended on 31 August 2025.
The Kyoto City Transportation Bureau states that KYOTO Wi-Fi is not available at city bus stops or subway stations.
Credit, debit and cash cards cannot be used to pay a fare on Kyoto City Buses. Cash, one-day tickets and IC cards such as ICOCA and Suica are the accepted methods.
Kyoto City Bus charges a flat fare of 230 yen for adults and 120 yen for children inside the flat fare zone. Passengers board through the rear door and pay on leaving through the front door.
Kyoto City Bus and Subway accept ten IC cards, PiTaPa, ICOCA, Kitaca, PASMO, Suica, manaca, TOICA, HAYAKAKEN, nimoca and SUGOCA, plus the KANSAI ONE PASS issued to foreign tourists only.
IC cards can be loaded at subway stations, other companies' railway stations and convenience stores, though the Transportation Bureau advises checking whether loading is possible at each station or store.
ICOCA is a stored value card topped up with money, to a maximum balance of 20,000 yen. JR West states it works on railways and buses across Japan and at shops showing the IC or ICOCA mark.
The Kyoto Subway and Bus One-day Pass covers all subway routes, all City Bus routes and most Kyoto Bus routes. It is valid only on the day it is activated, not for a rolling 24 hours.
Mobile service inside Karasuma Line tunnels started on the Shijo to Takeda section on 27 March 2013 and extended to Shijo to Kokusaikaikan on 30 September 2013, provided jointly by NTT docomo, KDDI and SoftBank Mobile.
Tozai Line tunnel mobile service reached the Yamashina to Uzumasa Tenjingawa section on 27 March 2015, adding to the earlier Rokujizo to Yamashina stretch, again from NTT docomo, KDDI and SoftBank Mobile.
Kansai International Airport opened on 4 September 1994 on Kankujima, an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, and consists of two terminals.
The 3,750 metre Sky Gate Bridge R links the Kansai Airport island to Rinku Town, carrying six lanes of road on the upper deck and two rail tracks below. It is the longest double-decked truss bridge in the world.
Itami, officially Osaka International Airport, sits 36 km southwest of Kyoto Station but handles only domestic flights, having lost international traffic to Kansai International Airport in 1994.
The Hankyu Kyoto Main Line runs 45.3 km from Osaka-umeda and terminates at Kyoto-kawaramachi, not Kyoto Station. The Keihan Main Line also misses Kyoto Station, with Shichijo the nearest stop.
JR West free Wi-Fi needs no password or other authentication and allows 15 minutes of internet use per connection. Guest codes for Wi-Fi at major JR West stations are issued at the ticket office at Kansai Airport Station.
The Kansai Airport limousine bus to Kyoto Station Hachijoguchi is run by Kansai Airport Transportation Enterprise with Keihan Bus and Hankyu Kanko Bus. A one-way adult fare is 2,800 yen and reservation is required.
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is briefing carriers on an amendment to the Mobile Phone Improper Use Prevention Act that extends identity verification to data-only SIMs, which the law previously did not cover.

Other cities in Japan we cover

Osaka: 43 km from Kyoto, nearest airport ITM
Tokyo: 365 km from Kyoto, nearest airport HND
Fukuoka: 515 km from Kyoto, nearest airport FUK
Sapporo: 1016 km from Kyoto, nearest airport OKD