As mentioned above, Shinkansen trains stop at the Kyoto railway station. If you are planning to travel on a famous Japanese bullet train, you need to find the Shinkansen platforms, located in the southern part of the building known as Hachijo (it faces the Hachijo street hence the name).

To board the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Kyoto, you must go to Kyoto Station, which is the city's central transportation hub. The Shinkansen platforms are located exclusively on the south side of the station, known as the Hachijo Exit side. If you are entering the station from the north (the "Karasuma" side near the bus terminal and Kyoto Tower), you will need to walk through the station's second-floor pedestrian corridor to reach the Shinkansen gates. There are two main gates: the Shinkansen Hachijo Gate (on the first floor) and the Shinkansen Central Gate (on the second floor). All bullet trains, whether you are heading east toward Nagoya and Tokyo or west toward Osaka and Hiroshima, depart from platforms 11 through 14 on the third floor. The station is exceptionally well-signposted in English, and there are dedicated "Shinkansen Transfer" gates if you are arriving from a local JR line, allowing you to enter the high-speed area without exiting the ticket gates entirely.