KOBE -- It was the airport nobody except the Kobe Municipal Government and a few local business leaders originally wanted.

Criticized as a prime example of useless public works spending, nearly 350,000 Kobe residents signed a petition in 1998 calling for a plebiscite on the airport's necessity, but City Hall rejected it.

On Thursday, nearly 40 years after the idea was first pitched, the 310 billion yen airport opens in an atmosphere of what even supporters admit is one of desperate hope.