Naha Airport to central Naha: how to get out of the airport

More foreign visitors drive a rental car to Naha Airport than to any other airport in Japan. Here is where the desk is and what to watch on the road.

Car rental information desk

1F arrivals lobby, 9:00–19:00. Tel 098-852-0725.

Rental company pick-ups

Buses, taxis and rental-car pick-ups all stop at the 1F exits of the arrivals lobby. The rental companies take you from there to their offices.

Off an international flight

The 1F exit of international arrivals is closed. Go up to the 2nd floor first, then follow the signs to the 1F arrivals lobby.

On 17 July 2026 Japan's transport ministry (MLIT) picked the area around Naha Airport, along National Route 331, as one of three places for new safety measures for visiting drivers. 83% of the foreign passengers who leave Japan from Naha come from countries that drive on the right. Coloured paving will mark the path through right turns, and rubber poles will stop cars drifting into the oncoming lanes after the turn. MLIT plans to put them in by the end of March 2027, with signs reminding drivers to keep left where rental offices are clustered.

Crashes caused by foreign visitors driving rental cars rose from 47 in 2020 to 212 in 2025. Right turns make up 24% of them, against 9% for Japanese drivers (MLIT).

How to make a right turn on the left side of the road, the 2026 speed limit change and what to do after a crash: driving a rental car in Japan.

Japan's courier network reaches this airport, so a case can go to your hotel without you.

Who runs it

Okinawa Yamato Transport

Where the counter is

domestic arrivals hall 1F, near security checkpoint C 2F

How long it takes

Next day, or the day after for some areas.

Worth knowing

They also run a hands-free package that takes your bag from the airport to your hotel.

Leaving a bag at a counter

The Okinawa Yamato Transport counter in the domestic arrivals hall on 1F, and near security checkpoint C on 2F, also holds bags for the day.

What it costs to put a bag down for the day.

Coin lockers are on the first, second and third floors of the domestic terminal.

Rental counters are in the arrivals hall here, so you can sort a connection after you clear customs.

eSIM

Bought before you leave home and installed over Wi-Fi, so you land connected. Needs a phone that takes an eSIM and is not carrier-locked.

Prepaid SIM

Sold at the arrivals counters and vending machines at the larger airports. You swap your physical SIM — keep the old one safe.

Pocket Wi-Fi

A rented router for several devices at once. Picked up and dropped back at the airport counter, or posted back.

Free Wi-Fi

Available in the terminal. It stops when you leave the building.

The same order at every international airport in Japan.

1. Quarantine — a health check as you come off the aircraft.
2. Immigration — fingerprints and a facial photograph, for everyone aged 16 and over, then the landing permission seal in your passport.
3. Baggage claim.
4. Animal and plant quarantine — before customs. Meat, fruit, vegetables, seeds and plants go to this counter first.
5. Customs — green channel with nothing to declare, red channel otherwise.

Register on Visit Japan Web before you fly and you get one 2D code that covers both immigration and customs. You need a phone or tablet to show it.

What you can and cannot carry is in our what you can bring to Japan table, and the baggage allowance for your airline is in the airline baggage rules.