Kintetsu HINOTORI Limited Express Review | Osaka to Nagoya Train Ride

11 a.m., Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture — Osaka-Namba Station.
Today, I’m riding the Kintetsu Limited Express “Hinotori.”
My destination is Kintetsu Nagoya Station.
The one-way travel time is about 2 hours.
Today, I’m experiencing a day trip on this train.

It’s my first time visiting Osaka-Namba Station.
But there are so many stations with “Namba” in their name that I got a bit confused…
JR Namba, Osaka-Namba, Namba Station…
I wandered for a while looking for the exit but finally arrived at Osaka-Namba Station.
After buying my ticket and passing through the gates, I spotted a bento shop!
I bought a boxed lunch to eat on the train.

Right outside the ticket gates was a bento shop called “Hakoyume.”
They had rice balls and boxed lunches lined up, all looking delicious, making it hard to choose.

What caught my eye the most was the bright red package called “Hinotori Bento” (1,200 yen).
I chose it based on the box design without checking the contents.

With my bento in hand, I headed to platform 1 to wait for the train.

At 11:56, the Kintetsu Limited Express “Hinotori” arrived at Osaka-Namba Station.

The name “Hinotori” comes from its sleek, speedy form and red design.
The metallic red body gives a strong presence.
It doesn’t blend with its surroundings — it really stands out and draws your attention.

I wanted to take a closer look, but there were only a few minutes before departure.
About 2 minutes after arrival, an announcement said, “Doors will close soon.”

“What? Already leaving?!”

I hurriedly boarded the train.

Only 4 minutes after arriving on the platform, at 12:00, the train departed Osaka-Namba Station on time.
I started walking inside the swaying train toward the premium car.

I rarely reserve premium seats, so naturally my steps quickened thinking about the car at the rear.

I arrived at the premium car.

The reclining and footrest functions could be adjusted using a remote on the armrest.
As expected of premium seats.
The recline wasn’t completely flat, but it tilted enough to almost lie down.

The backrest had a shell structure called a “back shell.”
This hard shell behind the seat means reclining doesn’t bother the passenger behind.
So you don’t have to say, “I’m reclining my seat” to the person behind.
It’s great to relax without worrying about others.

By the way, this train has two seat types: “Premium Seat” and “Regular Seat,”
and both have back shells.

Hinotori is the only limited express train in Japan with back shells installed on all seats.

Around 12:50 p.m., it’s lunchtime.

I opened the bento I’d been curious about and found fried chicken and chicken wings inside.
I knew chicken wings are a specialty of Nagoya, but I didn’t expect them in the bento.

Honestly, I thought, “This is going to be hard to eat.”

Cold chicken wings are popular in Nagoya as “cold wings,” so I want to try them there someday.

The fried chicken looked appetizing, but the sauce was interesting.
It wasn’t ketchup but chili sauce, which was quite spicy.
It really felt like eating a “fire bird.”

The chicken wings tasted good, but because they were cold, it was hard to get the meat off the bone.
While holding them with chopsticks, the meat almost flew off with the bone.
Cold chicken wings in a bento are hard to eat.

I had planned to eat elegantly in the premium seat, but ended up with sticky fingers.
The wet towel that came with the bento didn’t fully clean my hands, so I went to the restroom to wash them.

After finishing my meal, it was 1:30 p.m.
I purchased a coffee (200 yen) at the cafe spot.

With premium coffee in hand, I enjoyed a drink in the premium seat.
I also found soybean stick snacks (100 yen) at the cafe spot.
They went perfectly with the coffee.

At 2:00 p.m., suddenly the ceiling inside the train turned blue.
This happened about 5 minutes before arriving at the final stop, Kintetsu Nagoya Station.

At first, I was surprised, but after checking, I found out it is a system to remind passengers not to forget their belongings.
The blue lighting is a feature limited to the premium seat cars.

The moment it turned blue, an announcement played, and passengers started preparing to get off all at once.

At 2:05 p.m., we arrived at the final stop, Kintetsu Nagoya Station.

I headed to the locker to get my luggage, but an unexpected problem occurred.
The free lockers that should be unlocked by IC card wouldn’t open easily.
I tried several times, but kept getting errors.
There was no one around, and before I knew it, I was the only one there.

At that moment, I explained the situation to a conductor who was patrolling.
“If you hold your wallet over it, other cards inside might interfere.”

I understood — since I was using the whole wallet, other cards were affecting it.
When I held only the wallet over the reader, the locker opened immediately.
This seemed to be a common issue, and I felt relieved by the conductor’s quick response.
After solving the locker trouble, I said goodbye and got off the train.

The train quickly changed its destination display to “Out of Service” and left immediately.

My return train was at 4 p.m.
With about two hours left, I decided to go into Nagoya city and enjoy shopping.

At 3:56 p.m., I finished shopping and returned to Kintetsu Nagoya Station.

Four minutes later,
at 4:00 p.m., the train departed Nagoya on time.

Inside the train, I organized my luggage and used only one IC card to lock the locker.
I packed my souvenirs and purchases into a bag and locked it.

Then, I headed to my reserved regular seat.
This time, I departed heading for Osaka.

I sat down in the regular seat and noticed it was surprisingly comfortable.
It felt almost the same as a reserved seat on the Shinkansen.
In fact, since it had a footrest, it felt a bit like a Green Car seat on the Shinkansen.

Of course, the seat itself is not as luxurious as the premium seat, but it is quite comfortable.
The surrounding seats were also mostly empty, making it less crowded than the premium car I rode earlier during the day.

This quiet space with fewer people was actually more relaxing and comfortable.

I got a little hungry, so I casually headed to the cafe corner.

What caught my eye was an instant onion soup (150 yen).
The hot water is self-service and free.
Just pour hot water into the cup, and you can quickly enjoy a warm soup.
It was a consommé-flavored onion soup with the umami of onions from Senshu.

The package also had the logo of Kintetsu’s “Irodori Mall,” and it seems you can buy it online as well.

I spent the trip to Osaka working on my laptop.
When I opened my 13-inch notebook PC, it fit perfectly on the table.
Placing the laptop left no room for a drink, but there was a foldable drink holder under the table, so it wasn’t a problem.

The seat was more comfortable than I expected, and I didn’t mind working for long hours.
Before I knew it, it had gotten completely dark outside.

At 6:09 p.m., I arrived at the final stop, Osaka-Namba Station.
The round trip of about 4 hours was over in no time.

Even here, boarding and disembarking was quick, and the Limited Express “Hinotori” quietly left as if rushed by time.
What I felt from this experience was that although the name “Hinotori” comes from its speedy form, I could almost believe that the fast boarding and disembarking are also part of its character, as the departure was very quick.

While not as fast as the Shinkansen, the train’s appeal lies in its spacious seats and calm interior atmosphere.
The inside feels almost the same as a Shinkansen.
Considering the price, I felt this train offers great cost performance.
If I have another chance to visit Nagoya, I would like to use this train again.