1,900 JPY from Tokyo to Osaka: Highway Bus

Japan is less costly to travel if you pick right means of transportation. Travel by bus, and you can save quite a bit, folks.

Here's quick rundown on travel expenses for Tokyo- Osaka one way by means of transportation:

Fly ANA/JAL in 70 minutes for 22300 JPY; Star Flyer 20800 JPY; Go Shinkansen Express in 160 minutes for 12000 JPY / economy in 240 minutes for 10000 JPY.

If you care to drive yourself, be prepared to pay 11500 JPY plus fuel. Try slow trains for 2300 JPY at the expense of long time spent.

Now, some sort of revolution is underway in long-distance bus services in Japan. In the past two years, the average bus fare for Tokyo-Osaka has risen by 0.1% but the lowest rate dropped by 31%, according to a survey done by Rakuten Travel.

The highest rate in 2013 was ￥6735, the lowest 3600 JPY; this year, 2015, the average 6742 JPY, the lowest 2500 JPY, that is, you can travel by bus from Tokyo to Osaka for 2500 JPY.

That is not all.

Early in July this year, a few bus operators offered in Rakukten's reservation site  one-way fare for Tokyo-Osaka as low as 1900 JPY, 1/7 of unreserved Shinkansen.

Meanwhile, an accident on the Kan-Etsu HighWay in 2012 led to further restricting driving mileage per driver which in turn affected bus fares upwards.

Yet, the battle over long-distance bus fares goes on. Heisei Enterprise in Sagami-shi, Saitama, with membership of 150 thousand, point out that expenses for personnel and fuel are more or less stationary and so fares can be reduced "as you please" just to fill up the vacancies. "But then, we try not to cross the redline", they add.

Bus operators without brand values then keep on battling among themselves to win over customers by offering yet lower fares.