September 12, 2016
West Japan Railway Company

Welcome to “ＷＥＳＴ ＪＡＰＡＮ.”
Sales functions enhanced at Kansai-airport Station!
The number of foreign travelers arriving at Kansai International Airport via international routes hit anall-time fiscal year high at 11 million in fiscal 2015, and the numbers are continuing to trend upward in
the current fiscal year. In conjunction with this trend, an increasing number of travelers are touring the“Kansai Area” and “West Japan Area” with Kansai-airport Station as their entry point.
The likelihood of even more travel-environment changes occurring in the future can be seen indevelopments such as the plan for a new terminal at Kansai International Airport and the Japanese
government’s March announcement of new foreign-tourist numerical targets as part of its “TourismVision to Support the Future of Japan.”In order to handle the environmental changes taking place at Kansai-airport Station, as one part of ourMedium-Term Management Plan initiatives for “enhancing our infrastructure for serving visitors fromabroad,” on the upper floor of our ticket office, in August 2014 we newly established a service counter
especially for foreign visitors. Staff who can provide service in English, Chinese, and certain otherlanguages are assigned to this facility, which is currently used by a large number of travelers, with theusage numbers trending upward year by year.
Now, to further improve the user experience of JR-West’s Kansai-airport Station for the many visitors
arriving from within Japan and abroad, we will enhance that facility’s sales functions.
≪Image of the interior of the ticket office≫6 service windows added
Up to 14 service windows all
on one floor≪Layout diagram≫

Ticket office (Concourse floor)

Maximum 14 service windows

4 units installed
5 units installed

Green ticket vending machine
JR-West Kansai-airport Station
Concourse in front of ticket gate

New-type (HT50) ticket vending machines
2 addedTicket vending machine

1. Initiatives being implemented
Enhanced functions for ticket office(1) Maximum of 14 service windows, which will be all on one floor!
At present, with the upper floor included, there is a maximum of 8 service windows (5 plus the3 on the upper floor), but via renovation we are adding 6 for a total maximum of 14, and they willbe all on one floor.
(2) Lodging reservations will be possible at some service windows!
At some of the service windows, we will expand tour-desk functions for exchange of faretickets reserved overseas, and we will add a new lodging reservation function (same-day
reservations included).
The tour desk will be operated in collaboration with our group company Nippon Travel Agency
Co., Ltd.
(3) Enhanced service for visitors from overseas!
Up to now, we have had a maximum of three service windows able to provide service inEnglish, Chinese, etc. However, the number of such windows will be increased so we can provide
better service to visitors from overseas.
Note: The service window numbers indicated above are the maximum number for busy periods.
The actual number in use will vary depending on season and time of day.
Other: Installation of additional “new-type (HT50) ticket vending machines”
Currently, there are three “new-type (HT50) ticket vending machines” and four “Green ticketvending machines” installed, but we will be adding two more “new-type (HT50) ticket vendingmachines” for a total of five.
“New-type (HT50) ticket vending machines”:
In addition to standard ticket sales and the sales and charging of smart cards “ICOCA”,
these very convenient ticket vending machines have an English, Chinese, and Korean
operation guide function and a function for purchasing tickets by entering station names inalphabetic characters. (The “Green ticket vending machines” also have an English, Chinese,and Korean operation guide function.)
2. Implementation timing
March 2017 (planned)