Tokyo to Osaka, train or flight?

If we want to go to Osaka from Tokyo and back, which transportation is better (in terms of cost, speed, and convenience)? Bullet train w/ JR pass or Yokoso flight? There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 toddlers.

I know flight is 10000yen per leg and takes an hour, but factoring in time to/out of airport and airport checkin, is it equal to Train? What about costs compare to the JR pass assuming I also get to use it for 6 other days?

Hello.

welcome jp.

this answer is only train.

because Osaka airport is not Osaka's senter.

and japanese all people use Shinkansen train!

you chece this hp .

http://english.jr-central.co.jp/index.html

As for a fare, aged 7 and below is no charge.
However, the free person needs to sit down on a knee.
There are a nonreserved seat and a reserved seat.
There is also a super reserved seat.

If the Yokoso flights are 10,000JPY then that's 20,000 for both flights. You need not go to KIX. You can use ITM (Itami), closer to Shin-Osaka station area. You also can use HND (Haneda) instead of NRT (Narita) and the transport isn't all that expensive between those and the cities and not that time-consuming either.

Where are you staying in Tokyo?
Where are you staying in Osaka?
Train is SO much easier and less hassle: security, check in in advance etc etc

Go by train.....

Generally the train is faster, more comfortable and more convenient, while the plane is cheaper.

Shinkansen for sure, take Nozomi (the fastest). Very cool experience!

If you have JR pass then definitely take shinkansen (though I don't know if JR pass is still not including Nozomi but others yes)...it's fast and cheap, I think you will lose lots of time on airports and getting to and from your locations in Tokyo and Osaka to an airport...
Once I even used bus from Yokohama to Osaka, it is cheap and cool experience if you're traveling alone or with friends but if you have kids then no...it takes long...

The Nozomi service is still not available for those on a JRP. The Nozomi is not faster than the Hikari, but it's quicker.

Thanks all. How long does it take using hikari from Tokyo to Osaka?

153-156 minutes for Nozomi depending on which Nozomi.
173-180 minutes for Hikari depending on which Hikari.

Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station

How long does it take using hikari from Tokyo to Osaka?

www.hyperdia.com
Shinkansens go to SHIN Osaka: you need to change at ShinOsaka to either
1. Local JR train to Osaka (Umeda area) or
2. Subway to Namba area
Enjoy!

If you want the CHEAPEST, take a night bus (from city center to city center) and also you are saving one night accomodation for about 4500 yen.

Remember if you take plane IS NOT ONLY 10,000 yen, you have to add the cost of the trains from every airport to the cities (Narita is far from Tokyo, Kansai is not so close to Osaka either) so the 10,000 is really around at least 12,500 taking the cheaper trains (in Tokyo : subway trains, -seats looking to the center of the car-, not comfortable at all), in Osaka cheaper trains are O.K.
Shinkansen Hikari is about 13,500. from city to city.

Welcome to Japan!

I recommend JR train Shinkansen.
Because each airport (at Osaka and Tokyo) are not in city centre.
But each station are in centre.

For example....
From Tokyo station to Haneda airport ; about 40min.
From Osaka International airport to Osaka station ; about 40min.(KIX is more far..)
Flight time ; 1h

Use Shinkansen
From Tokyo to Osaka ; about 2h30min.

JR train is more fast, and more convenient.

* it's my 5th time posting this; strangely previous posts have been deleted :( *

I would like to tap on to this topic, but I need to choose between domestic flight and overnight coach, one way from Osaka/Kyoto to Tokyo.

Travel by domestic flight is comfortable and this add-on to my international fare is only a few dollars more. In some cases, it's even cheaper with domestic fare. Of cos, the concern would be travelling around with bags and time needed at airport check-in and such.

The overnight coach costs from JPY4,900 and takes about 6 hours. It saves a night's accommodation and time; and frees me the hassle of lugging bags. However, the comfort level would be compromised. Then again, my stays are usually at hostels which are cheaper than bus fare.

My hotels in Osaka is at Namba area; Kyoto near Kyoto JR; and Asakusa in Tokyo.

What a dilemma!

One thing which changes the equation is if you combine the trip to Osaka with your arrival/departure from Tokyo. i.e. you need to be at an airport anyway, the domestic flight will save a lot of time.

In general terms, to Osaka region train or plane are about the same time. Any major cities further west, flights have the edge (some exceptions, due to airport location, e.g. HIJ).

To correct some misconceptions spouted on this thread:

1) "Japanese people all use shinkansen" Absolute rubbish. TYO-OSA routes have more than 50 flights a day on large aircraft - in terms of passenger numbers it's one of the busiest air routes in the world. All regular travellers on this route I know, would always fly rather than the train.

2) ITM is 15 minutes from central Osaka on monorail etc, and as the Shinkansen stops at shin-Osaka, it isn't any less inconvenient.

3) Hassle: Domestic flights are easy in Japan, you only need to arrive 15-20 minutes before your flights. Security is fast and polite - no body scanners, shoes/belts stay on, liquids allowed. Checked baggage is free, arrives fast, isn't molested (such as by criminal-style government workers in some countries), and is handled with care. It's also more easy than carrying big bags through stations and trying to store them on trains.

Overall, it's close. For me, cost, speed, comfort and, ease would put flying ahead of train. For tourist with kids it might be different - some thoughts:
- if you can time a JR pass to be useful, it could well be cheaper on the train and on a train children up to 5 are free (without a seat), when flying over 3's must pay for a seat.
-depending on location and if you can coincide your need to be at airports.
-Japanese airports have open air viewing decks and children play areas, which some children might like, rather than waiting around train stations (also Japanese cabin attendants tend to make a big fuss of young children on flights)
-depending on children's personalties the flights option might suit some better- with time broken up into short blocks doing different things, while other children would do better settled on a train for a longer time (potentially on your lap though!), and can walk about at any time.
-"experience" of shinkansen might be fun for a tourist and there's some interesting scenery in parts. (though on a clear day, flying over Mount Fuji is pretty nice too).
-shinkansen less likely to be affected by weather
-if your plans change, easier to change a booked train reservation, than a flight.

All regular travellers on this route I know, would always fly rather than the train.

Then the people you know make up a rather unrepresentative group of people. Or maybe you live close to Haneda Airport? In terms of passenger numbers, the shinkansen still accounts for the large majority of travelers between the Tokyo and Osaka areas (JR Central estimates a market share as high as 85% in 2011 compared to airplanes), but airplanes and especially overnight buses generally have been increasing their market share in recent years.

Then the people you know make up a rather unrepresentative group of people.

I don't think so. Most people I know do take the shinkansen route as you suggest. But as I said, the regular travellers I know on this route (traveling several times a week) mostly fly. And there are reasons for that which I suggested in my previous post.

As you say, the ridership on the train greatly exceeds air and as the capacity of the shinkansen trains far outweighs the air traffic capacity, so at peak times when trains are full, I would think the difference in ridership even greater. On the Tokaido shinkansen, trains seat more than 1,250 passengers each and can be full even at the frequencies they operate.

Hi

I've done 4 osaka to tokyo (& vv) trips with my then baby/toddler and I must say that we only did Shinkansen twice. We very much prefer travel by air. Just to share, we usually plan our trips to enter via Osaka and leave via tokyo. This saves us a return journey. The first time we took the Shinkansen was our first trip. We wanted to experience it. But it was a bad choice for the newbie japan travelers we were then. We chose to stay at swissotel namba which is really another train ride away from the shinkansen station. It was horrendous cause we hadn't discovered luggage forwarding yet. The train stations were not designed for travel with huge suitcases. The only other time we took the Shinkansen was because from Kyoto we travelled to Kiso Valley then Shinkansen-ed to Tokyo via Nagoya.

One other time we left Osaka via Itami airport and it was a breeze. The airport shuttle service was v convenient. We always fly to Haneda which is closer downtown. There was airport limo to our hotel so it was quite painless. We always choose hotels that are close by/ convenient to our preferred transportation mode. In Osaka, we've always stayed at the swissotel namba station which is right above a train station. The direct Kansai airport train stops there too. And a porter from the hotel was on hand to help us with our luggages.

I guess when deciding your options, your kids would be top priority. Are they good travelers? Are they good on planes? Do long journeys bore them? (Plane ride is an hr, train is 3-4) sometimes breaking up a journey to many parts may suit younger travelers. I've learnt enough to know that when one travels with young kids, there's no way one can achieve a packed schedule. One has to play to the pace and mood of the kids :( because if the kids are miserable, everyone's miserable. We made sure we chose hotels with good transportation options to reduce fatigue. Hope this helps.

About Japan rail pass, we've only used it once on our Osaka-Kyoto-Kiso-Tokyo trip. We didn't max out the value of our tickets cause we changed our minds about a daytrip to Niigata. I'm not certain about actual costs. But we like that we chalk up star alliance miles on Ana domestic flights too :p

Forgot to mention that for our first trip, we could only get hold of air tickets entering and exiting via Osaka. So we actually took an Ana domestic flight almost immediately upon arrival at KIX to Haneda. This saved us the hassle of going to the airport again or finding our way to the Shinkansen in Osaka.

How reliable are the airposts involved, if I may ask? By reliable, I mean to know if they close frequently due to bad weather. IMO that's very relevant to the discussion.