Adding on to what has been said about high speed rail in Japan, anyone living here knows that bullet trains are generally more expensive than domestic flights. From my own experience traveling on them, it's usually a difference of roughly 10-20%. Also, you need to pay extra to reserve a seat. If you don't, you might be standing in the isle throughout that 4 hour trip from South Japan to Tokyo. The only real benefit is the relaxed security vs going through an airport. The trains are also more resilient to weather and are less likely to have trips canceled during typhoon season compared to air travel.
All that said, I pretty much never use them now unless family visits and wants to ride the bullet train for the experience.
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