Osaka Itami International Airport — Osaka, Japan

ITM traces its origins back to 1939, making it one of Japan's oldest continuously operating airports, long before Osaka's international traffic shifted to the artificial island facility built offshore in the 1990s. Wedged between the cities of Itami, Toyonaka, and Ikeda in a dense pocket of the Osaka metropolitan area, the airport now handles almost exclusively domestic routes, having ceded nearly all international service to Kansai International Airport when that newer facility opened in 1994. Strict noise regulations and an evening curfew reflect the airport's tight urban surroundings, with residential neighborhoods pressing close against the runway on multiple sides, a legacy of the city having grown up around a field that predates most of the surrounding development. Despite losing its international role, ITM remains one of Japan's busiest domestic airports, valued for its convenient location close to central Osaka compared with the more distant Kansai hub.