Getting Around Japan

A lot of people that come to Japan buy the JR Rail pass, which is very expensive and is only available for purchase outside of Japan. However, I've noticed that it seems to be much cheaper to fly. There are many affordable airlines in Japan and many offer round-trip flights for around 10,000 yen (roughly $130). There is something to be said for riding a Japanese bullet train, but when you're on a budget, you're on a budget. Bullet trains can cost more than that just one way. Here are a couple airlines I have considered:

Air Asia
http://www.airasia.com/ot/en/home.page

Air Asia is a Chinese company, but so far seems to offer the lowest prices. They use Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT) for the Tokyo area, but seem to use HND as the international airport instead of NRT. From Tokyo, you can go to Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. You can also go to the South Korea cities of Seoul and Busan for VERY cheap (around 8600 yen or so). In exchange for cheap, watch out. They do try to nickle and dime you - including a "online fee" of 300 yen, a seating fee of 300 yen, etc. Some can't be avoided, but most can.

Jetstar
 http://book.jetstar.com/Search.aspx

Jetstar is an Australian based company that offers low-cost flights throughout the Asian Pacific. You can also use them if you want to go to other countries from Tokyo, such as Australia, South Korea, China, and Taiwan. Jetstar is only through NRT, Tokyo's larger airport, but you can go to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka and Okinawa.

Starflyer
http://www.starflyer.jp/en/

To reserve with Starflyer, you need some knowledge of Japanese OR use the firefox/chrome add-on called Rikaichan - it's free and will help you figure it out. Also note that Starflyer only goes from Tokyo (HND) to Fukuoka, Tokyo (HND) to Kitakyuushuu and Tokyo (HND) to Kansai.


In February, I will be going to the Sapporo Snow Festival - and taking a flight on Air Asia. I will then post a review, but the total is around 12000 yen - $150 USD. They try to nickle and dime you, but who the heck needs 2 meals on a 90 minute flight? Just be careful when purchasing that you don't click something you don't want to.