Originally Posted by NerveEnding
Thanks for all the replies. I ended up booking into KIX. I did look into NGO, just for completeness sake, and it added many hundreds of dollars to my airfare. I'll hit that region of the country after my conference during my sightseeing times.
Good to hear you found your best way to one of the places on earth I like most. I couldn't agree more that airfare and convenience of air travel count the most. That is the reason why I will be using NGO again in October on my way to Kyoto and Kobe, as LH only offers C to KIX from FRA, while they offer F to NGO.