Tokyo to Osaka, train or flight?

Someone said planes are more comfortable than Trains. REALLY? just look -but I mean REALLY LOOK- at the size of the seats & the space for your legs: there is no comparison at all; shinkansen wins by far.
Another thing, you can't compare changing trains from Shin-Osaka to Osaka station (a LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES) with the hassle to go from every city center to the airports and change from trains to planes, theres no comparison at all. Shinkansen wins by far, again.
Time; you can arrive ONE MINUTE before the train leaves -WITH YOUR LUGGAGE- nobody is going to look at your luggage or anything, you just go cross the barriers with your ticket and voila... you just ride the train, no inspections (polite or not) at all. Shinkansen wins by far again.
Most japanese people do the trip by shinkansen, but if you want to save money Highway overnight Bus is a really good choice also.

well, comfort is pretty subjective. imho, i'm more comfortable flying this leg of the journey with a toddler in tow. btw, my reply tends to be more skewed towards travel with young children.

comfort in terms of seat size and space, undoubtedly the trains win hands down, unless you fly top class.

i just realised that i only take trains while on holidays and holidays ought to be less stressful (haha...never in reality!) now train travel in japan can be confusing for foreign travellers. so many platforms, so many trains...it can be very intimidating for foreigners not familiar with the japanese language, and worst if carrying lots of baggage. Add in kids, disagreeable kids, this just makes it a nightmare to travel!

just in april, my partner and i couldn't find our near platform 11 locker in shinjuku train station. hubby was brilliant in suggesting the use of a locker for stashing our shopping loot before our next shopping stop. it made sense since we'd have to return to shinjuku where we stayed. we forget that 1. we wouldn't be returning via the same platform - no big problem, since we made sure to remember the platform number, 2. we wouldn't be using the same exit stairs! (there're stairs in the two ends and also in the middle!) so we spent 20 mins going up and down stairs to find our locker! haha! silly!

to me, air travel is straightforward. it's the same procedure everywhere. just check in, go to gate, get on. and if there's an empty seat next to you, great! your kid can have a seat. nobody's going to board the plane in the next hour to possibly claim the seat your kid is on.

as for luggages and strollers, train travel is pretty much diy. you'll have to load and unload everything by yourself. this means that your partner will have to juggle 2 kids down the train while you ensure you've got everything up and down the train. honestly, that's a huge hassle to me. if you're travelling light, then this shouldn't be much of an issue. we do suffer from certain amount of anxiety about missing our stops etc. but it's just us. there're announcements about the next stops. but if you're the type who may fall deep asleep (not sure how with kids around :P), you run the danger of missing your stop.

an hour of air travel vs 3 hours of train travel is also preferable to me cos it passes quite fast. what more, kids get to choose from a basketful of free toys/ souvenirs inflight. this should occupy the kids for a while. in no time, you've arrived. train travel can get quite monotonous. scenery gets bleah after a while. if you have kids who take 2h naps mid day, then carefully-planned train travel may work for you.

my child did not have to buy an airticket when she was 45months, but i'm not exactly sure what's the cut-off age. for trains, kids under 6 travel free but on your lap or in your seat (meaning, you'll have to stand if your child insists on sitting on his/her own)

i haven't travelled during peak season, so the planes were never full. in fact, i recall vaguely that we were early for one flight and they gladly moved us to the next available flight.

about bad weather, i'm sorry i've no idea, perhaps locals may know better. but it's definitely good idea to avoid any travel during bad weather seasons especially with kids.

How reliable are the airposts involved, if I may ask?

They are the world's most reliable. Haneda Airport was awarded the world's most punctual major airport in consecutive years. Itami Airport is even more punctual, but is not counted among the "major airports". The airports don't close, but typhoons and other large storms can occasionally cause cancellations. But the same is true for other forms of transportation.

Just one clarification the plane travel doesn't take JUST 1 hour, you have to:
-go to the airport (unless you go to Haneda which at least is around 30 minutes by train+monorail)
wait for the luggage
pass the inspections (leaving airport)
pass the inspections again (arriving airport)
wait for luggage claim
go to the city again (most of the cheap travel plains arrives at Kansai airport more than 1 hour from the city center )
So is much more than just 1 hour, in reality is AT LEAST around 2h 30 minutes which is almost the same Nozomi Shinkansen takes to Shin-Osaka,

While it is true that the flight only takes one hour, compared to three hours on the Shinkansen, one must not forget to include the time taken to get to the Shinkansen station. Again, depending on where you're coming from or going to, the train may not be the best option. Like for us, we would never want to go through the crowded Tokyo station to get to our hotel in Shinjuku which is a hassle to get to via train- the crowds! We always choose point to point connections that takes care of our baggages. The airport limousine takes us close to if not to our hotels. We just board, sit and get off. No worries about lugging luggages strollers up and down lifts, squeezing in crowded trains. I think for us, with just one kid, one parent can be fully devoted to taking care of the kid while the other battles with the luggages. Now with two kids and luggages...hmmmm....

Undoubtedly, the Shinkansen seems to be the preferred mode for locals and more experienced travelers. I do recognize the convenience of not having to go through the hassles of security checks etc. especially for locals who use trains a great deal. However, in view that the poser of this question has stated that the travelers include two young children, I do wish to share my experience which may include some scenarios they may not have thought about. We have trained through Japan and Europe with my young daughter many times to know that train travel with kids and luggage may not be the best option even if it's the fastest or cheapest. It's simply a different travel experience when you travel with kids.

Thanks all for the reply. One other question is where do you place your luggage when riding Shinkansen? Is there a limit in size/number? Not that we will bring a lot if luggage...since we will be going back to Tokyo we will probably have our hotel holds most of our luggage and we just bring 1 bigger luggage and 2 kids with us, so hopefully that will be more manageable through the train stations.

Luggages go overhead. I used a 26" last time and it fitted. There are also a bit of room for suitcases behind the very last row.

bebebe, I don't find the Japanese trains confusing at all.There are signs in English (or rather signs using the Latin alphabet) in the stations and on the platforms.
Mind you I was born in Europe where we too have huge stations and lots of platforms..

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html

This offers a very good explanation about luggages in Japan. I recall that unlike elsewhere, there aren't dedicated luggage racks (monorail from haneda has plenty) cos the locals travel lightly. I highly recommend the luggage forwarding service. Typically it's a next day delivery sort.

Red frog, yeah it's true that with limited knowledge of the japanese language, one can easily understand trains, timing and platform. This is especially true for long distance travel trains like the Shinkansen. It's straightforward. However, what I meant about train travel in Japan being confusing is directed especially at the many different types of trains that ply the same route eg limited express, express etc. before boarding a train, one needs to ascertain type of train and the stops where the train actually stops at cos some trains skips stops while others stop at every stop. An earlier departing train may arrive at your destination later than a train that arrives a few minutes later. Information about the train services can be found on the pillars at the platforms. We recently took double the time to travel out to kawagoe! Anyway this is not the main topic, let's not digress :)

Train travel can be planned using http://www.hyperdia.com/en/. iPhone app avail. Hth

As someone who does the Osaka Tokyo trip several times a month the plane is a better period.

Itami is served by ANA and JAL only. Both of them if you have fast pass service either via IC-Card enabled mobile or IC-Card with EDY function. This means you can walk straight to security tap your phone or your wallet on the reader walk through security in about 10 seconds and board your flight 10 minutes before it takes off, meaning for a 9am departure arriving at the airport at 8:40-8:45am is sufficient.

Locals do not check-in luggage and rather carry on. If large luggage needs to be sent it is sent through Takyuhaibin or Takyubin from convenience stores and is usually at the destination before the traveler.

Additionally one can redeem miles on a star alliance or one world carrier.

The exception to this would be people living in Kyoto and northern Kansai.

I just booked my domestic air tickets between Osaka & Tokyo; together with my international tickets. It's because JAL offers a really great deal!

Most importantly, access to Itami/Haneda, is easier and cheap :)