Kobe airport xray pre check in?

Hello,
Back in 2013 I took a domestic ANA flight from Kobe airiport to Sapporo. Upon check-in I was told in Japanese (and eventually English as I did not fully understand) to first bring my check in bag to a separate x-ray machine before checking in my bag. I also remember doing this while traveling from Yakushima airport.

I thought they would do this after check in, as seems more common in other airports. Only in these two airports have I encountered this. Bigger airports like Narita, Kansai, Chubu etc, never experienced this.

Is this a common thing in Japan or is it just found in smaller airports? I thought Kobe was big enough to have x-ray after check in but not sure.

This is the standard procedure for all domestic flights in Japan, even from big airports.

I've had that happen to me at Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, Sendai, and Sapporo airports.

Yep, had the same in Fukuoka, Haneda and Chitose for domestic flights. But it is no problem. The machine is just standing in the queue for checkin. You pass it through and continue in the queue for checking in. Not really any extra time required.
Similar controls happen at some EU airports for flights to the US.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

These x-ray machines are only appearing in the domestic terminals or on international as well?

I thought these x-ray machines were located out of public area, along the conveyor belts transporting checked in luggage. That's what I've heard.

I went to US 2013 and never encountered any pre check in luggage x-ray machine. Neither on the return flight.

Just depends on the airport. I remember that happening in Thailand. As soon as you enter the airport, bag goes thru a scan. Just depends how much security each airport wants.

Hope this helps!

Some people seem to misunderstand. What we are talking about here is the scan for checked luggage, not other scans such as the pre-boarding scan for carry-on luggage.

No, I got it.... This happens before you get your boarding pass and it is for the checked luggage. Once you get your boarding pass and say goodbye to your suitcase, you then go through security for your carry-on baggage and your personal possessions and they and you get scanned before going to the gates. Some small airports perhaps cannot afford huge scanners and use the small ones or maybe they don't have the baggage handling infrastructure the larger airports have.