Japan Transportation System

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Airline:

Domestic air travel is dominated by the Japan Airline (JAL) Group and the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Group, which each consist of several airlines and serve over fifty airports across the country. In addition, there are several smaller airline companies competing with JAL and ANA on the country's most popular routes.

The JAL Group consists of JAL Domestic and JAL International, as well as of several smaller airlines including Japan Transocean Air, Ryukyu Air Commuter and others. The JAL Group serves over 50 airports and over 100 domestic routes in Japan. Complementary drinks are served, and a relatively generous baggage allowance is maintained.

On the other hand, the ANA Group consists of All Nippon Airways, as well as several smaller airlines such as Air Nippon. The ANA Group serves about 50 airports and 100 domestic routes in Japan. Paid drinks and snacks are available on board, and a relatively generous baggage allowance is maintained.

Skymark Airline has the most extensive route network among the discount airlines in Japan. It operates inexpensive flights from its main bases in Tokyo-Haneda and Kobe to destinations nationwide. The airline maintains a certain level of services at the airport as well as a quite moderate luggage policy, but reduces its on-board service to a minimum. It offers an easy-to-use English website.

Peach Aviation Airline started operation in spring 2012 as Japan's first genuine low-cost carrier, introducing fare levels not seen in Japan before. The airline is based at Osaka's Kansai Airport, Okinawa's Naha Airport and Tokyo's Narita Airport and operates on several domestic routes and a few international routes to nearby Asian destinations. It maintains a strict luggage policy and keeps services to a bare minimum, although paid drinks and snacks are available on board. Beware of hidden fees.

Jestar Japan Airline Operating since summer 2012, Jetstar Japan flies from Tokyo's Narita Airport, Osaka's Kansai Airport and Nagoya's Central Japan Airport to several domestic destinations and a small number of international destinations. Jetstar's luggage policy is strict, and services are limited, although paid drinks and snacks are available on board. Beware of hidden fees.

Vanilla Airline started operation in December 2013 on a small number of domestic and international routes out of Tokyo's Narita Airport. Vanilla Air's luggage policies are quite moderate compared to the other low-cost carriers. Also, Spring Airlines Japan started operation in August 2014. It connects Narita Airport with Hiroshima and Saga.

Air Do operates inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to various destinations in Hokkaido, and from Sapporo to multiple secondary airports across Honshu. A relatively generous baggage allowance and a certain service level are maintained, including complementary drinks.

Starflyer offers inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Yamaguchi and Osaka's Kansai Airport. It also flies between Nagoya and Fukuoka. Starflyer offers not only inexpensive prices, but also a comfort level that exceeds that of conventional airlines by offering spacious seats, complementary drinks and a video system for every passenger. A relatively generous baggage allowance is maintained.

Solaseed Airline, also known as skynet Asia Airways. It operates inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to various cities on Kyushu, and from these Kyushu airports to Okinawa. A relatively generous baggage allowance and a certain service level are maintained, including complementary drinks. And there’s Fuji Dream Airlines started operation with the opening of Shizuoka Airport in 2009. Besides Shizuoka Airport, the airline also flies out of Matsumoto and Nagoya.

Finally, the IBEX Airlines, formerly known as Fair Inc, operates a small Sendai based network of domestic routes. They also serve some routes from Tokyo's Narita Airport and Osaka's Itami Airport. A relatively generous baggage allowance is maintained.

Airfare:

Thanks to the deregulation of Japan's airline industry and increasing competition from discount airlines, domestic airfares have dropped dramatically in recent years, and airplanes have become an economical, sometimes cheaper alternative to the shinkansen (bullet train) on some routes. While regular prices remain comparatively expensive, it is the low cost carriers and the many discount offers, which have made domestic air travel in Japan more attractive. Among the discount offers are air passes for exclusive use by foreign tourists, which enable pass holders to use domestic flights at a fixed cost of slightly above 10,000 yen per flight.

Other modes of transportation:

Waterways:

There are 1770 km of waterways in Japan; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas. There are some 994 ports in Japan as of April 2014. There are overlapping classifications of these ports, some of which are multipurpose, e.g. cargo, passenger, naval, and fishery. The 5 designated "super" container ports are: Yokkaichi, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka. 23 are designated major/international, 125 designated as important, while there are also purely fisherman ports.

The twenty three major seaports designated as special important ports by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: Chiba, Fushiki/Toyama, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kitakyūshū, Kobe, Kudamatsu, Muroran, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka, Sakai/Senpoku, Sendai/Shiogama, Shimizu, Shimonoseki, Tokyo, Tomakomai, Wakayama, Yokkaichi, and Yokohama.

Ferries connect Hokkaido to Honshu, and Okinawa Island to Kyushu and Honshu. They also connect other smaller islands and the main islands. The scheduled international passenger routes are to China, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan. Coastal and cross-channel ferries on the main islands decreased in routes and frequencies following the development of bridges and expressways but some are still operating (as of 2007).

Pipelines

All the major cities offer a wide variety of public transport. In many cities you can get day passes for unlimited travel on bus, tram or subway systems. Such passes are usually called an ichi-nichi-jōsha-ken. If you're staying for an extended period in one city, commuter passes are available for regular travel.

Buses:

Almost every Japanese city has an extensive bus service, but it's