Uchikura & Co., LLC

Kansai International Airport should have been built off Kobe, not where it is today.

 

The decision to move the airport away from Kobe was not because it was impossible—it was because local politicians did not want it. As a result, Japan chose a more complicated and expensive solution in Senshu, building an artificial island for what is now Kansai International Airport.

 

That decision has had long-term consequences. The island continues to sink, and billions have been spent to maintain and stabilize it. This is not an unexpected problem—it was a known risk from the beginning.

 

Meanwhile, Kobe lost the opportunity to become the international gateway for the Kansai region. Instead of benefiting from global traffic, business concentration, and visibility, the region had to settle for a smaller facility, Kobe Airport, which does not serve the same role.

 

Kobe could have supported a major offshore airport with more stable conditions and without the same level of engineering risk. Instead, a political decision shifted that opportunity elsewhere, and the cost of that choice is still being paid today.

 

In the end, this was not an accident. It was a deliberate decision—and a costly one.