Central Japan is home to mountains, coastlines, historic towns and major cities.
Hokuriku stretches along the Sea of Japan and offers dramatic coastal scenery.
Chubu is home to Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps, as well as centers of manufacturing and new technology.
In Kinki, the historic cities of Kyoto and Nara coexist with the energy of Osaka and Kobe.
The region also has distinctive food cultures shaped by produce from both sea and mountains.
Are there places here that you know or would like to visit one day? What kinds of airports are nearby?
Using data from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, we mapped passenger traffic at airports in Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki.
Why not explore the airports of central Japan on the map?
Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki Airport Passenger Map (2019, 2021 & 2024)
Select an airport on the map to view its international, domestic and total passenger traffic, along with its 2024 recovery rate compared with 2019.
Choose “Chubu, Kinki & Hokuriku” with the region buttons to see the airports in this part of the country. You can also search by airport name.
Look for airports near cities you know or places you would like to visit.
Around 64 Million Passenger Movements in 2024
Airports in Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki recorded 63,845,449 passenger movements in 2024.
This is not a count of unique individuals. It is an annual total of arriving and departing passengers, so a round trip is counted twice and frequent travelers are counted each time they use an airport.
Zoom in on the map and compare individual airports as well as the regional total.
What I Noticed While Creating the Map
What struck me was how the locations of airports and the way passengers are distributed differ across Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki.
In the Kansai area, passenger traffic appears to be shared among Kansai International, Osaka International and Kobe airports. Chubu Centrair International Airport stands out in Chubu, while Komatsu Airport is prominent in Hokuriku.
Fukui Prefecture also has Fukui Airport, although no passenger traffic was recorded in the 2019, 2021 or 2024 data used for this map.
Why do these differences appear from one area to another?
As you explore, look beyond passenger numbers to each airport’s location and the transport links around it. Compare how traffic at airports that interest you changed in 2019, 2021 and 2024.
Why not use the map to discover the airports of Chubu, Hokuriku and Kinki?
Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Airport Management Status Reports (2019, 2021 and 2024)
* Figures cover the calendar years 2019, 2021 and 2024 (January–December).
* Passenger traffic is the total number of arriving and departing passengers.
* For airports shared with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, only civil aviation traffic is included.
* The recovery rate is calculated by dividing 2024 passenger traffic by 2019 passenger traffic.