Nagoya Airport Arrival: Wi-Fi Rental & Train to the City

2015-02-23 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

Since eating and sleeping were the biggest priorities for this trip, we had to cut down on other expenses as much as possible. Thanks to that, we flew to Japan on Jeju Air, a budget airline. (Though we still bought expensive tickets because it was peak season.) True to its budget nature, the plane seemed to hold only about 150 people. When I leaned my seat back, Chef Kim (my mom) pushed it right back up, saying it would be too cramped for the person behind me.

We were seated in the second row from the back of the small plane, so I was worried we'd be uncomfortable, even for a short flight. But since we had been rushing around packing since morning, we both fell fast asleep, and it felt as short as a quick bus ride.

The most dangerous(?) moment was during the final landing. Perhaps because the plane was light, everyone clustered in the back seats bounced up twice like a roller coaster, letting out a collective "Oops!!!" Big planes are one thing, but on a small plane, you really need to keep your seatbelt fastened.

Chubu Centrair International Airport

It is quite far from the airport to Nagoya Station.

As someone who just took this trip, I think this is one thing travelers should keep in mind. It doesn't matter if you're staying in Nagoya, but if you're heading straight to another region, you absolutely must factor in the time it takes to ride the airport train.

When we arrived in Japan, the ground was wet and the sky was overcast, as if it had just rained. Up until this point, I was worried, thinking, 'This might ruin the trip.' But contrary to my worries, thanks to this rain, my mom and I were able to travel under a truly beautiful sky.

Interior of the airport with an advertising poster featuring Cristiano Ronaldo on a pillar

People are walking down a wide airport corridor equipped with moving walkways — It's the era of Ronaldo in Japan. Ronaldo is on every advertisement in the airport.

People are gathered around a dragon-shaped sculpture displayed under a domestic transfer sign — Ronaldo, a dragon, and familiar Korean text. There are plenty of Korean signs at the airport, so there's little worry about getting lost.

After finishing all the airport procedures and coming out, the very first thing we did was figure out how to use Wi-Fi during our trip. I had been so distracted that I hadn't even thought about data roaming, making this our most urgent task. First, I looked into buying a SIM card in Japan, but they were way too expensive. As a backup plan, we chose a pocket Wi-Fi (egg). I figured it might actually be better since we wouldn't be making many calls anyway, and as long as KakaoTalk worked, we could escape our internet addiction.

When you get off the plane and walk out, you arrive on the 2nd floor. I searched for where to rent a Wi-Fi egg and found we needed to go to a building called the Access Plaza. You can get there by taking the connecting passageways directly linked to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the airport.

A three-dimensional guide map showing the facilities and structure of the airport by floor — The Access Plaza isn't that big, so it's easy to find if you follow the directory map carefully.

A Wi-Fi router rental counter located inside the airport — In one corner, companies renting out SIM cards and Wi-Fi routers are huddled together. We decided to buy from Global WiFi, which advertised LTE speeds.

An information sign listing the rental fees for a Wi-Fi router that can be used in Japan — Calculating up to our return day, we paid 900 yen * 4 days, which came to 3,888 yen including tax. The part labeled "Campaign" means they give a discount if you rent two Wi-Fi devices. Unless someone doesn't know that multiple devices can connect to a single Wi-Fi router, I'm not sure who would use that.

The Wi-Fi router worked well, and it even turned off automatically if no phones were using it and no devices were connected. The only downside is that the battery only lasts for 5 hours after a charge, so you have to turn it off when not in use. Aside from repeatedly turning it on and off and having a bulky pocket, it wasn't inconvenient at all.

Now for the next mission: buying a Mu Sky ticket and heading to our first destination, Nagoya Station.

The Mu Sky is like the Airport Railroad in Korea. And true to an airport express train, the price is jaw-droppingly expensive. Why do all airport trains charge so much money...? If the timing doesn't work out, you can just buy a ticket for the next class of train down, but it's too much to figure out right after arriving.

People are buying tickets in front of a ticket office with a large Nagoya Railway route map — I tried to buy a ticket to Nagoya and a 1-day subway pass for today all at once from the vending machine, but failed miserably. Rather than using the machine, it's better to just go to the ticket agent next to it and confidently say, "Nagoya! Two person!!" and they will issue two tickets for the earliest train. If you want the faster Mu Sky, just shout "Mu Sky" as well and they'll handle it. The timing didn't work out for us, so we bought tickets for the regular train.

An 870-yen Nagoya Railway ticket departing from Chubu Centrair International Airport — 870 yen per person. Between the Wi-Fi and the tickets, we've already spent 50,000 KRW.

All that's left to do is wait on the platform, catch the train, and arrive at Nagoya Station. So far, nothing has been too difficult, and Chef Kim doesn't seem to have any issues with her stamina or her knees. The train arrived. I looked at the route map, but even though this is Nagoya and not Tokyo, I have absolutely no idea what is where. I'll just have to focus, keep my ears open, and wait to hear "Meitetsu Nagoya." Well, it's the biggest station, so I guess we can just get off when most of the people do.

A railway route map showing station names and transfer sections with various colored lines — Even looking at the route map, at first you have absolutely no idea what to do.

Arrived at Nagoya Station! First mission successfully accomplished!! For reference, the regular train is incredibly slow. It was so slow that I'd be worried about our departure time on the way back, so we definitely have to take the Mu Sky when returning. Mom, let's go eat~

#We took the Mu Sky on the way back and it was much more pleasant #As expected, expensive things are always better #Right after entering the country, you're just excited so it doesn't matter if it's expensive, cheap, good, or bad #Now... let's start the trip