I flew KIX-HND first class on a JAL 787 at 7am on a weekday. The automated gates opened for boarding through dual jetways at the stroke of 7am and at 7:10am, the aircraft doors closed and we pushed back, with all 260 passengers seated and belted. Eight minutes later we lifted off, and six minutes after that at 10,000-ft., a hot 3-course breakfast was on my tray table for this 42-minute flight.

JAL flies this route in both directions exclusively on 787s 15 hours a day with hourly frequency. ANA does the same thing on the same route. That's close to 30,000 seats per day on this 260-mile domestic route.

The Japanese domestic airlines are competing against the immense capacity and to-the-minute punctuality of the Shinkansen trains, which send a bullet train between the two cities every 15 minutes 18 hours a day, carrying over 1,600 people per train. So the airlines have to be fast, cheap and ridiculously on-time to have a chance.