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The Advantages of Trains

Tourist guides tend to focus on the robots and the neon, but in fact, Japan is an extremely rugged, mountainous country - a whopping 80% of land is uninhabited, mainly because it's physically uninhabitable due to being composed largely of terrifying precipitous mountain slopes with rocky rushing rivers at the bottom. Terrain like this is excellent for mountaineering - if you're a hiking enthusiast, Japan offers endless possibilities for outdoor adventure - but it's not so great for building inter-city highways. Japan has only a few major road arteries linking the various regions of the country together, and every single one was dearly bought, blasted out with copious quantities of dynamite (and $$$) through the endless mountain barriers. Due to this, the highways tend to be jam-packed with traffic at all times, excluding the wee hours of the morning (and sometimes even then). Three-day holiday weekends result in traffic jams that can trap a car for an entire day between Osaka and Tokyo, but even on regular ol' weekdays, a single car accident can spell "Forget About It" for anyone on the highways who hopes to arrive at a destination in a timely fashion.

Highway buses may look like an appealing transit option on paper - they tend to cost about half as much as the bullet train - but the possibility of getting stuck in traffic is a very real fear. In addition, many bus companies operate under shady schemes of multi-tiered outsourcing, employing drivers who may be overworked, sleep-deprived, and possibly even drunk. A number of high-profile bus accidents have called public attention to the problem in recent years, but is anything being done about it? Maybe, maybe not. In sum: if you want to reach your destination quickly and safely, bullet trains (Shinkansen) and other long-distance express trains are probably your best bet.

Yes, bullet train tickets are a bit on the expensive side. The standard one-way adult bullet train fare between Tokyo and Osaka is 13620 yen (about 120 US dollars or 100 euros at January 2018 exchange rates). However, considering the fact that bullet trains leave once every ten to fifteen minutes all day long from about 6AM to about 9PM, and that the bullet train is the fastest option short of flying (the bullet train only takes about 2.5-3 hours to get from Tokyo to Osaka, whereas driving takes at least 7 hours, and that's if you don't run into a traffic jam), the price starts to seem worth it. Bullet train stations are located in major, downtown districts, making them very easy to access. There's no need to go through security. You can arrive at the station ten minutes before your train departs and board it, no trouble, even if you don't have a ticket! Tickets are easily purchased at the automated kiosks right outside the ticket gates in every train station, so you can buy one five minutes before departure and still make it on time.

Lately, budget airlines such as Peach and Jetstar have been offering rock-bottom prices on flights, but what they don't tell you is that you'll still waste up to two hours on either end getting to and from the airport, going through security, and waiting for boarding. You also have to pay train fare to and from the airport. Add everything up and again, for shorter distances, the train looks like a bargain.

It's true that because Japan is a surprisingly large country (at least from north to south), for longer distances, it does make sense to fly. From Tokyo, if you're going to Hokkaido or anywhere south of Hiroshima, a plane will be faster and cheaper. There are also certain mountainous areas in which a bus is the only public transit vehicle that will get you where you need to go. But Japan continues to expand its bullet train networks, so if you're planning a tour of Japan, consider the trains your very good friend.

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