I agree that the Shinkansen can be regarded as a competitive option for medium-distance inter-city travel, but I think that daily use of trains in Japan can be expensive. A Tokyo Metropolitan pass costs 750 yen/day, and that's only sufficient if you don't travel outside the metropolitan area. In contrast, I only pay $5.50 round trip going between Evanston and Chicago on the L. Although I guess that comparison had more impact when the exchange rate was worse.