Getting Around Osaka with a Dog

The Osaka Metro and city buses carry dogs free of charge as long as the animal fits on your lap inside a carrier or cage covered with a cloth, and the carrier stays closed for the whole trip. There is no published size or weight number for the metro, but the dog must be fully enclosed and kept calm, so avoid packed rush-hour trains.

On JR West trains a dog rides as hand luggage only when fully enclosed in a carrier no longer than 70 cm, with total dimensions under 90 cm and the animal and carrier together under 10 kg, for a small fee of around 290 yen bought at the station. From Shin-Osaka the same rules apply on the Tokaido Shinkansen, which reaches Kyoto in about 15 minutes and Tokyo in about 2 hours 30 minutes, while dogs too large for a carrier travel by dedicated Osaka pet taxi.