Kansai, Narita or Centrair

Hi,
I have three incoming airports to choose from when heading for Japan next year.

Concerning immigration time, closeness to city (Osaka/Kyoto, Tokyo and Nagoya) and convienence, which would you recommend?

The flights will arrive around the same time (9 AM) in all three airports and the price is roughly the same, so that is of no concern.

Are you going to visit all three cities on your trip? Because if you aren't, there is no reason to enter NGO if you're going to only visit Tokyo or/and Osaka just for the few minutes you may save during the airport process.

I tend to believe that the time difference will be negligible at all airports. KIX and NGO are on man-made islands and far from the city centers, just like Narita, but they are closer than NRT to their respective cities.

Actually, for the begonning I will not visit either of these cities, will be moving on as I arrive.

I mostly thought of which way is faster into city or at least central city station, like Shin Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.

And if course immigration clearance time. I heard Narita can bring be a nightmare comming to cueues, a friend told me of having to wait for more than an hour in immigration queues...

Where are you going after arrival? That depends lots. If going towards Shikoku then Kansai is the option. If towards Tohoku then Tokyo.

If you have the option for Haneda take it. at 9 am flight traffic starts to pick up. I would not recommend Narita. Not many flights enter Central so the queue would not be bad. Going to Central and Kansai are what I recommend. If using a JR Pass, I recommend Kansai since the train to Nagoya does not use JR. This also means that if you are going somewhere from Nagoya you probably have to visit two different rail companies counter (Airport train line and the JR train line companies).

It takes about 30 minutes to get to Tennoji (within Osaka city limits) and nearly an hour to reach Osaka main train station (Shin-Osaka). It takes about 30 minutes to get to Nagoya main train station. Main train station meaning along the shinkansen line.

Central is a clean and friendly airport. Kansai is a straightforward and extremely easy airport to navigate. For souvenirs I would rate Kansai higher. If there was the haneda option i would state that instead though.

The longest time I spent at Narita from stepping off the plane to walking out of customs was 45 minutes. The shortest was 20 minutes. The average was 30 minutes at T2 with a 2-4pm arrival window.