I just got back from 11 days in Japan which inculded 2 domestic flights, 3 trips on the Shink, and probably 5 or 6 1 hr+ rides on other trains and I will say that a smaller suitcase is so much better. I forced the wife to get all of her stuff into a 22 inch bag which she was not happy about (included gloves, hat and ski pants too) for 11 days. However, she told me several times on the trip that she was much happier w/the small bag. The problem is that aside form the airport trains we rode (CTS express train, Nagoya, Haruka to KIX and NEX) there were not good places for big bags on the other trains.