Narita International Airport — Narita, Japan

Few airports carry a more contentious construction history than Narita, where plans to build Japan's new international gateway east of Tokyo in the 1960s triggered years of fierce protest from local farmers and student activists who refused to surrender their land, a standoff remembered as the Sanrizuka Struggle. That resistance delayed opening until 1978 and permanently constrained the airport's layout, leaving NRT with only two runways decades later despite handling a scale of international traffic that would normally demand more, because a few holdout farms still sit inside the perimeter. Located some 60 kilometers from central Tokyo, Narita remains Japan's principal hub for long-haul international service and a major cargo gateway, even as Haneda has reclaimed a growing share of international flights closer to the city. High-speed rail keeps the journey into Tokyo manageable, and Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways continue to anchor extensive long-haul networks from its terminals.