I am flying into NRT next month, on the way to Shanghai. I cannot at the moment get on an immediate flight to Shanghai, so I have to overnight somewhere. I do not want to stay overnight in Narita, because I dislike the amount of time it takes to get to Tokyo, and I've been to Narita before, and will again on the way back. I have the option of going to Osaka (ITM), NGO, or FUK. Never been to any of these places. Arriving in the evening and departing late afternoon the next day. Which would be the most interesting place for a 1-night stay? Ease of getting from airport to "where the action is" and back is important. TIA
Well, as others have siad, you really can't include Itami since there are no onward flights to Shanghai. I think your choices are NGO, FUK or
KIX.
Of the three, KIX and NGO are big, modern, very nice airports that are well outside their "main city." I like NGO, which is a great, new airport with lots of businesses and services. It is about 1/2 hour from Nagoya on the fastest Meitetsu express train. The only problem there is that you would then be in Nagoya, one of the least interesting big cities in Japan. KIX is about the same distance outside of Osaka on the Haruka express and Osaka is a much more interesting place to visit, with great dining and nightlife. KIX is also about 1-1/4 hours from Kyoto (roughly the same length train trip as NRT-Tokyo.) If you don't mind that roundtrip on a comfortable train, Kyoto is fascinating, even for only a morning. That is probably what I would do but I admit to being biased. Kyoto is one of my favorite places in the world.
Of the three, for only a short, layover stay, I agree with most of the others that FUK would be the simplest and make for a nice visit.