Which airport is nearer to Takayama

Is it nearer to travel from Osaka Kansai Airport or Haneda Airport to Takayama and how to ?

Neither airport is close, but Osaka is a little closer. See details below.

How to get to Takyama from Osaka:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5908.html?aFROM=2157_5900

How to get to Takyama from Tokyo:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5908.html

If you go from Kansai International Airport and not Osaka city or Osaka station, then they are about the same.

If you have the option to fly into Chubu/Nagoya Airport, that would save you quite a bit of time I would think.

Good luck!

Komatsu airport near Kanazawa would also be convenient. It's about 40 minutes by bus from Komatsu to Kanazawa and then about 2.25 hours by bus from there to Takayama.

If you are flying into Japan and then going directly there, Centrair (Chubu) Airport in Nagoya would be a good choice. Some, but not all, international carriers go to Centrair.

Very few international carriers go to Centrair, especially from outside Asia.

Indeed. If you are flying internationally then your choices are really Tokyo or Osaka. The right choice will probably come down to the combined cost of flight & trains & which airport you can get a flight to arriving at a time of day that works for you.

OP doesn't post from whence they are flying from.

I did a direct about a decade ago from California, but that doesn't seem in the running anymore, though you can fly direct from Hawaii.

The only U.S. flights direct to Nagoya are from Detroit and Honolulu.

OP didn't say there were from USA, though.

Yes, OP didn't say where they were coming from, but depending on where they are coming from, there are options of International flights outside of from within Asia to Chubu. That was my point. I don't think they should ignore it as a possible airport since if they are starting in Takayama, as an International airport it makes the most sense. There are International flights that arrive there. Depending on where OP is, they might be able to go direct or find a possible easy transfer that could save them time vs. NRT/HND/KIX.

Lufthansa flight to Nagoya. If you are from Europe... Hub is Frankfurt, so really central Europe. Easy to connect in there. Can get in/from most part of Europe in 1 or 2 hours. Osaka is not bad either anyway. Can get to Nagoya in 50 min by Shinkansen. Price is like 6/7000 yen one way.

You could try open jaw:
(Im assuming you are going to leave from Tokyo)

YOURCITY - TOKYO - NAGOYA/TOKYO - YOURCITY

vs

Roundtrip
YOURCITY - TOKYO - YOURCITY

Usually it is not to much more or even the same price to do the OpenJaw. However it would only make sense if you do not arrive too late in Nagoya or if the price difference is a lot. Then there is the possibility that the connection times in Tokyo would be actually longer then just taking the train to Takayama.

Hope this helps!

I realise that more carriers fly into Nagoya than I thought. I thought I had checked most regional airports while planning a possible trip recently but I must have missed Nagoya. There seem to be no shortage of flights from europe and prices are comparable to Tokyo or Kix. I'm always prepared to admit when I am wrong :)

@Stan Norrell

Direct flights to Europe i think only Lufthansa and Finnair operate from Nagoya. As far as i know there are no direct flight to US. As ANA is a Star Alliance member, as Lufthansa and many other, you can book flights to Nagoya from several airlines. But there will always be a stop in Tokyo. Tokyo-Nagoya will always be an internal flight operated by ANA.

@Stan Norrell

Direct flights to Europe i think only Lufthansa and Finnair operate from Nagoya. As far as i know there are no direct flight to US. As ANA is a Star Alliance member, as Lufthansa and many other, you can book flights to Nagoya from several airlines. But there will always be a stop in Tokyo. Tokyo-Nagoya will always be an internal flight operated by ANA.

Yes but I could for instance get an Asiana flight via Seoul or Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong or China Pacific via Shanghai from the UK to Nagoya none of those stop in Tokyo. This doesnt fit my needs but I was incorrect when I said it wasnt possible.

I'll be flying from SG direct to Nagoya and heading to Takayama. After 3 nights stay at Takayama, will be going to Tokyo. How do I utilise the JR pass in Nagoya to Takayama and Takayama to Tokyo. For this itinerary, is JR pass more economical ?

Hi!

I'm glad Nagoya Airport worked for you! It's a super cute airport and relatively easy to navigate. I don't remember my landing views, but the views on take-off were pretty spectacular depending on visibility.

It depends on how much traveling you will be doing and the time frame for such travel.

I have not done it, but the most economical method from Chubu Airport to Takayama:

https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/other/centrair-to-takayama_en/ at 3700 yen per adult. It includes the Meitetsu line train to Nagoya and then a bus trip from Nagoya to Takayama.
( https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/highwaybus/nagoya.pdf is the bus time table) it will take you a little under 3 hours.

It will cost you ~6740 yen via train. ~1230 I believe is on the private non JR Meitetsu line and 5510 via JR with no seat reservation. The Hida will take you approximately 155 minutes from Nagoya Station vs. the 165 by bus.

If you are just doing: Chubu to Takayama, Takayama to Tokyo, Tokyo to HND/NRT it is probably not worth it to get a pass. Depending on the route you take back to Tokyo, it will take ~260 minutes and cost a little over 15,000 yen or a little under 15,000 yen and you can use the faster and more frequent Nozomi via Nagoya (which you can't take with a rail pass but can take when paying out of pocket.) But it would depend on if you have other expensive JR travel within a specific time period which you've not listed.

If you're looking to save money, you can take the bus in 5.5 hours ~7000 yen.

I hope this helps!

JR pass wont pay off. Not enough Shinkansen or long distance travel.

Cheapest options would be a bus to Takayama, and a bus to Tokyo as explained above.