Fly budget or travel by bullet train in Japan?

Three new budget carriers, Jetstar Japan, AirAsia Japan and Peach Aviation, started flying within Japan this year, but are they a cheaper and faster way than the bullet train to travel between various cities?

Based on a comparison of prices and travel times for two itineraries - Osaka-Tokyo-Sapporo and Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka - SundayLife! found that it is best to fly budget for the Osaka-Tokyo-Sapporo route, and take the train for the Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka route.

That is because the rail journey from Tokyo to Sapporo is nearly 10 hours, and the price difference between the rail pass and cheapest air travel option is only $39.

For the Tokyo-Osaka-Fukuoka route, the train option, while up to 25 per cent more expensive than the flight options, took nearly half the time of the journey by air.