Osaka probably isn't a good representation of the rest of Japan's public transport and I can see why it wouldn't leave an impression. Particularly if you catch

Osaka probably isn't a good representation of the rest of Japan's public transport and I can see why it wouldn't leave an impression. Particularly if you catch the slow JR between KIX and Namba. Osaka-jin are typically more laid-back and could perhaps even be considered 'disorderly' compared to the norm - they like to stand on the right side of escalators, but the entire rest of Japan stands on the left. This leaves an initial bad impression in Kyoto central station, where you have many people arrive from Osaka and you end up with people stood on both sides of the escalators. As soon as you leave this area of the central station though, the rest of Kyoto's transport system is super efficient, even during the busiest times. I find it better than Tokyo's, although it's obviously not quite as busy. I think my impression might be slightly biased because of how much a lifesaver the aircon is in Kyoto stations during the dog days. I think the biggest difference between Japan's train system and elsewhere is less to do with the facilities than it is to do with the people. In Japan people don't push, they queue up in straight lines and wait orderly. The system works because people don't try to game it. In stations in China, the reverse is true. If you just waited in line you would never get anywhere because there will always be someone who'll push in front of you. There's no way Japan's system would transfer over well into this culture.