Answer:
The distance is minimized by Japan's high speed train network, known in Japanese as the Shinkansen.
The Shinkansen is in fact the olderst high speed rail in the world, and was its first line, that connects Tokyo and Osaka, the two largest cities in Japan, was inagurated in the 1960s.
Nowadays, the Shinkansen connects all major Japanese cities, reducing the distance among them. The system is very clean and efficient, and has an average speed of 200 miles per hour.