Tokyo's Narita: History and Modernization

Narita's Controversial History

Narita International Airport (IATA: NRT) has one of the most contentious origin stories of any major airport. When the Japanese government selected the site in Sanrizuka, Chiba Prefecture — 60 kilometres northeast of central Tokyo — in 1966, it displaced farming families who had been resettled to the area from Manchuria after World War II and had spent two decades building productive land from what had been marshland. The farmers refused to sell. The government expropriated the land in 1971 using emergency powers, leading to violent confrontations between farmers, student activists, and riot police that continued for years.

The airport opened in 1978 after a decade of delays, construction behind barricades, and clashes that resulted in dozens of deaths including police officers and protesters. The control tower was occupied by activists the day before opening, delaying the inaugural flight. Even after opening, a small farming compound remained on land that the expropriated farmer refused to sell, creating the distinctive kink in Narita's original access road that vehicles had to navigate around the holdout property. The farmer, Tomura Isao's family, maintained the property until 2017, when a settlement was finally reached.

This history is not merely historical footnote — it shaped Narita's physical design and its relationship with the surrounding region. The airport was built with only one runway for its first 24 years. A second runway, approved in compromise negotiations with local residents in the 1990s, opened in 2002 but at a shortened 2,500-metre length — 1,000 metres shorter than the original plan — as a further concession to residual local opposition. A third runway, finally approved in 2020 as part of a compensation agreement, is under construction and expected to open in 2028.

Terminal 1, 2, and 3

Terminal 1, the original terminal opened in 1978, handles Japan Airlines and its oneworld partners including American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, and Cathay Pacific, as well as several Star Alliance and unaligned carriers. The building has been renovated multiple times but retains the bones of its 1970s design — long corridors, lower ceilings than modern terminals, and a smaller gate lounge footprint that makes crowding during peak boarding periods more likely. The main hall's renovation in 2014 improved the retail and food court areas significantly, and the skylight additions brought more natural light into the central departures zone.

Terminal 2 opened in 1992 and handles ANA and Star Alliance partners including Lufthansa, United, Air Canada, Korean Air, and several other carriers. It is a brighter and more spacious building than T1, reflecting the decade-later construction. T2 was expanded in 2008 and again in 2019 with additional international gates in a new satellite building connected by an underground walking tunnel. The domestic terminal at Narita, which handles ANA and JAL domestic connections, is a separate building adjacent to T2 reached by a 15-minute bus shuttle.

Terminal 3 opened in 2015 as a dedicated low-cost carrier facility and is the most basic of the three buildings. Jet Star Japan, Peach Aviation, Spring Airlines Japan, and several international LCCs including AirAsia and Scoot use T3. The terminal is deliberately minimal: bare concrete floors, exposed steel structure, and a conveyor belt check-in shared among all tenants. Food options are limited to a basic food court and convenience stores. For the price-sensitive passengers using LCCs, T3's efficiency is adequate; for anyone accustomed to the service standards of T1 or T2, it can feel stark.

Modernisation Projects and Expansion

Since 2010, Narita Airport Authority (NAA) has pursued a sustained modernisation programme to reduce the competitiveness gap with Haneda, which gained expanded international capacity in 2020. The most visible element of this programme is the commercial redevelopment of T1's domestic and international retail zones, which now include Japan's largest airport duty-free store by floor area, a dedicated Japanese craft spirits section featuring regional sake and shochu producers, and a food court that has moved beyond the generic fast-food model toward locally sourced Japanese regional cuisine.

The longest-delayed element of Narita's modernisation is ground transport. The 60-kilometre distance from the airport to central Tokyo by road or rail has always been the airport's primary disadvantage, and solving it comprehensively requires infrastructure investment beyond the airport's own budget. The most recent proposal — a maglev or high-speed rail line connecting Narita to Tokyo in 15 minutes — was studied in 2020 and is under consideration for inclusion in the national infrastructure programme, but no construction timeline has been confirmed. Until such a connection exists, Narita's ground transport will remain a competitive disadvantage relative to Haneda.

The new third runway, approved in 2020 after 50 years of negotiation, will extend to 3,500 metres — a full-length runway capable of handling all commercial aircraft types — and will add approximately 50,000 annual aircraft movements to Narita's current capacity of 300,000 movements. The runway's northern orientation will allow simultaneous operations with the existing two runways in most wind conditions, effectively ending the capacity constraint that has limited Narita's growth since its founding. Construction is progressing and an operational date of 2028 is targeted to coincide with international demand growth forecast for the World Expo 2025 travel period extending into 2027–2028.

Ground Transport Options

The Narita Express (N'EX), operated by JR East, is the premium train connection between Narita and central Tokyo. Reserved-seat trains run approximately every 30 minutes during the day and stop at Shinjuku, Shibuya, Yokohama, and Ofuna — destinations that cover the primary commercial and tourist areas of Tokyo and greater Tokyo without transfers. The standard one-way fare to Shinjuku is JPY 3,070; the JR Pass covers the N'EX fare for pass holders, making it effectively free for tourists with a Japan Rail Pass.

The Keisei Skyliner is the fastest option to the northeastern part of Tokyo — the route to Ueno takes 41 minutes and connects to the Yamanote Line at Nippori in 36 minutes. At JPY 2,520, it is cheaper than the N'EX and competitive in journey time to areas in eastern central Tokyo. The Skyliner is the choice of experienced Japan travellers staying in the Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara, or Akasaka areas, where the Keisei network connections at Nippori and Ueno are more convenient than the N'EX stops.

Limousine buses operated by Airport Transport Service Co. connect Narita to a wide network of Tokyo hotels for JPY 3,000–3,500 per person, with dedicated stops at the major hotel clusters in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Akasaka, and Shibuya. Journey times are 80–130 minutes depending on traffic and destination. Taxis from Narita cost approximately JPY 22,000–28,000 to central Tokyo — significantly more expensive than any alternative and rarely used except in extraordinary circumstances. For groups of four, the per-person cost approaches the bus fare and the journey time advantage in off-peak hours is substantial enough to justify the premium.

Lounges and Pre-Departure Facilities

JAL's Sakura Lounge at Narita Terminal 1, accessed by JAL First and Business Class passengers and JMB Sapphire members, is one of the finest airline lounges in Japan. The facility received a full renovation in 2018 that introduced a dedicated teppanyaki counter, a Japanese whisky bar featuring rare allocations from Suntory and Nikka, private shower suites with deep soaking bathtubs (not merely showers, which is standard — the addition of soaking tubs reflects Japanese bathing culture), and a sleep room with reclinable chairs bookable for two-hour intervals.

ANA's The Suite Lounge in Terminal 2 matches the JAL Sakura standard and has the additional distinction of an operational kitchen preparing hot dishes to order rather than from a buffet. The ramen station, available from 6 a.m. to midnight, produces properly made tonkotsu and shoyu broths with fresh noodles — a detail that has been cited in numerous travel media as the single best piece of airport lounge food service in Japan. Priority Pass access at Narita is provided at the KAL Lounge (Korean Air) and several shared facility lounges in both T1 and T2, all of which are functional and adequately stocked but below the standard of the carrier flagship lounges.