Osaka Metro Fares and Day Passes: Which Ticket to Use

Single fares: what a ride costs

Osaka Metro charges by the shortest distance between the two stations, in five zones. The ordinary fare page (in Japanese) gives these fares for the subway and the New Tram; each adult fare includes a ¥10 station barrier-free charge:

The page shows one fare for both paper tickets and IC cards. The zone for each pair of stations is on the fare map above the ticket machines. Osaka Metro's ticket guide explains the routine: find your destination on the fare map, choose the matching fare on the machine, and if you under-pay, settle the difference at a fare adjustment machine by the exit gates.

Is the Enjoy Eco Card worth it?

The Enjoy Eco Card is Osaka Metro's own one-day ticket. It costs ¥820 for an adult on weekdays, ¥620 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and ¥310 for a child on any day. It gives unlimited rides on all Osaka Metro lines except Yumeshima Station, and on Osaka City Bus apart from a few routes, such as the bus to IKEA, and on-demand buses.

Using the fare table above, this is where the card starts to save money:

A sightseeing day such as hotel to Osaka Castle, castle to Namba, Namba to Umeda and back to the hotel is four rides. If each ride is a ¥240 zone-2 fare, that is ¥960 on a weekday, so the card saves ¥140. If your plan is two rides and a lot of walking, pay per ride.

How the card works, according to Osaka Metro:

• The date is printed on the card the first time you put it through a gate, and it is valid for that calendar day only. An unused card has no expiry date.
• The weekend price follows the calendar. Over the New Year period the weekday and weekend days can be set differently, so check Osaka Metro's website before buying for those dates.
• It is valid only for the person carrying it and cannot be shared.
• It does not cover the private railways that run through from the subway, such as Kita-Osaka Kyuko, Hankyu and Kintetsu. Pay the extra fare at the exit.
• An unused card can be refunded at a station office for a ¥220 fee.
• Showing the card on the day of use gets discounts at about 20 sightseeing facilities in the city.

You buy it from the ticket machines in subway stations (choose "Purchase Card"), at commuter-pass offices or at station kiosks. Our Osaka Castle tickets guide and Tsutenkaku tower guide cover two places you are likely to reach on it.

The 26-hour, 48-hour and 1day/2day passes

Osaka Metro also sells passes aimed at visitors, mainly online:

• The Osaka Metro Pass costs ¥1,000 for 26 hours and ¥1,700 for 48 hours (child ¥500 and ¥850). Osaka Metro NiNE lists it for sale online through Triplabo and other online travel companies. The page does not say when the hours start counting or whether buses are included.
• The Osaka Metro and Osaka City Bus Pass costs ¥1,000 for one day and ¥1,700 for two (adults only), as a digital ticket or a magnetic card. The magnetic card is sold at the Kansai Tourist Information Center in Kansai Airport Terminal 1. That page was last updated in November 2025.

Compare them with the Enjoy Eco Card before you pay. Two weekday Enjoy Eco Cards cost ¥1,640 and a Saturday plus a Sunday ¥1,240, both less than the ¥1,700 two-day ticket. The 26-hour and 48-hour passes make sense mainly when your riding is spread across more calendar days than the pass costs, for example arriving in the afternoon and leaving the next afternoon. Osaka Metro NiNE says the Osaka Metro Pass also gives discounts at more than 20 sightseeing facilities, and the 1day/2day pass at some of them.

If you plan to visit several paid attractions in one day, the Osaka Amazing Pass, which includes unlimited subway travel, may be the better deal; see our Osaka Amazing Pass guide.

Paying with a contactless bank card

You can tap a contactless credit, debit or prepaid card, or a phone or watch with one set up, on the dedicated reader at the ticket gates. Osaka Metro's contactless payment page lists Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay, and says no registration is needed. Since 1 November 2025 it also works on Osaka City Bus (except certain routes) and the Imazato Liner.

Two limits matter:

• Adult fare only. The system always charges the adult ordinary fare, even when a child taps. Buy children a paper ticket or a child pass instead.
• No daily cap published. Osaka Metro's page does not mention any daily or weekly fare cap, so a busy day of tapping costs the sum of the single fares. If you expect four or more rides, the Enjoy Eco Card is cheaper.

Only gates with the dedicated reader accept the card. You can check your trips and charges on the Q-move website after registering.

IC cards: ICOCA, Suica and others

An IC card is the simplest choice if you are in the Kansai region for several days or are travelling on JR or private railways as well. Osaka Metro's card-ticket page says IC cards from the nationwide mutual-use areas, including the JR West ICOCA area, work on the subway and Osaka City Bus, so a Suica or PASMO from Tokyo works too.

To get an ICOCA at an Osaka Metro station, use a pink ticket machine (adults) or a commuter-pass office (children's cards are sold only there). There is a ¥500 deposit on top of the stored value. Mobile ICOCA and ICOCA in Apple Pay also work.

The charging page says you top up in ¥1,000 steps at ticket machines and fare adjustment machines, up to a balance of ¥20,000, and you need at least ¥10 on the card to enter the subway. Mobile Suica, mobile PASMO and similar phone cards can be topped up only at the yellow fare adjustment machines. PiTaPa discount schemes do not apply to other IC cards.

Which option for which traveller

Arriving from Kansai Airport by Nankai, you reach the subway at Namba; our Kansai Airport to Osaka guide compares the train and bus options.