>>1423506This is an EXCELLENT question. It was the biggest pain in the ass to figure out and it seemed like everyone already knew. It's very doable.
First, accept that they will fuck your bike up somehow. We first flew to Chitose with bike boxes. The contents were all labeled on the side of the box and everything was packed with packing foam and zip ties. TSA still opened the boxes and rearranged the contents. When we got to Tokyo the bikes were busting out of the boxes. The shuttles in Tokyo terminals couldn't fit out bikes. After an hour of JAL ladies running around they rescheduled our flight. the opening to the seat post on gf bike was bent in. So we couldn't put a seat in when we were building them in the airport. 3 am and we're in a construction site and I'm hammering the post with a rock and a multitool while this fox circles us.
On the way back we just seran wrapped the bikes and bought a cheap duffle bag to check. Youre allowed 2 checked bags a person. The seran wrap worked better because people treated the bikes better.
Your main enemy is going to be the train station. KIX is an island and you'll want to be able to carry your bike easily. You can go rinko, but $50 for a bag is too much for me. I liked the seran wrap because I could punch a hole and grab the frame.
So if you wanted to start in Kyoto you could pack the bike and take the train, but there are multiple stops and station changes which is stressful with a bike and gear. You could get off in Osaka at Dobutsuen Mae station and ride to Kyoto. It's 35 miles and it's pretty nice. You can get all of your supplies at the Mega Don Quixote and sleep at the hostel across the street.
From personal experience, avoid the train station as much as possible. In fact, stay away from cities as much as possible. I'll get to that later
