Jurgen Radier Photography

Japan

Seen by many as expensive and difficult to travel the country of the rising sun remains a country that not many people have seen. However, the general view of Japan could not be further from the truth. Granted, Japan can be an expensive country to travel to but it is not more so that for example Scandinavia. Travelling within Japan is not for those who prefer lying on a beach for 2 weeks, it takes a sense of adventure. Loads of things in the bigger cities are translated into English and with the help of a Lonely Planet it is very doable.

Not just the country itself is worth visiting, the aviation side of things is highly interesting as well. With excellent spotting possibilities, aircraft and airlines not often seen in the west and loads of special liveries, Japan is the place to be!

While this report only covers the airports we visited, that is not the only thing we did. Japan has so much to offer that it would be a waste just to hang around airports. Tokyo and Kyoto are 2 complete opposites both worth a visit.

This week long trip took us to Osaka first, flying into Kansai and transferring to Itami. The next day was reserved for a visit to Kyoto which is the cultural heritage site of Japan. The next 3 days were spent in Tokyo, enjoying the city, the Tsukiji fish market and obviously the domestic Haneda Airport. After that we flew back to Osaka to enjoy Itami airport with the terriffic Harada Skypark. On the second to last day we flew back to Tokyo, Narita this time to do some more spotting and to catch our flight home the next day.

JAL 777-200 Sky Eco tail at the gate at Osaka Itami

Copa 737-700 in Quito

Aerogal 727-200

Icaro 737-200 cockpit

Osaka Itami (ITM)

Officially named Osaka International Airport, Itami is the main domestic airport serving the Kansai region, including Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. Serving more than 19 million passengers annually on flights to 32 to cities, this airport is split between JAL and ANA. The north part of the terminal is home to JAL, JAL Express, Japan Air Commuter and J-Air while the south part is home to ANA and it's connection carrier Ibex Airlines.

Traffic at the airport ranges from 50 seat CRJ's to 524 seat high density 777-300s. Unfortunately 3 and 4 engine aircraft were banned from the airport in 2006 and is a bit monotone, with a few exceptions. The main route from Itami is to Tokyo Haneda which is served hourly by both JAL (777-200 and -300) and ANA (767-300, 777-200 and -300).

Photography at Itami is about as good as it gets, period! The visitor deck on top of the terminal is very long, does not have a fence (rare in Japan) and gives a good view of the action, even at night. Vending machines are certainly in place and toilets are close by. However, just going to the visitor deck does not do this airport justice. On the other side of the runway is 'Skypark Harada' which stretches about a kilometer along the runway and has various themes. All kinds of photos can be taken from this park and Japanese are often seen visiting with their kids. For the adventurous people it is possible to shoot bank shots by renting a bike and finding a good spot inside the city.

Wingview over Quito

TAME 727 on approach

Icaro Fokker-28

Tokyo Narita (NRT)

Narita is the largest international airport in Japan serving both as an arrival and departure airport as well as a hub between Asia and North America. Domestic flights are limited mainly to connecting flights. The airport handles more than 35 million passengers annually with 2 terminals and 2 runways.

The airport had a eventful construction period as farmers protested their eviction which led to riots killing several. The airport opened with riot police in guard towers and document and baggage checks for those entering airport grounds. While the situation has calmed down passengers arriving at the airport are still subject to a document check and one of the 2 runways has not been extended to its full length.

As every airport in Japan, Narita offers spotting decks on both terminals. On terminal 2 (JAL) there are actually 2 decks, both enclosed by a high fence with limited photography holes. Terminal 1 offers a single, larger visitor deck which looks out over the runway directly. Photography at both is fine, but be aware that you might get a short visit from the police. They are very friendly and just want to get your information noted down, you won't be bothered in any other way. There are several other spotting locations around the perimeter that supposedly give better views. Due to time constraints we didn't visit them.

Icaro F-28 in Barcelona colours

Flooded domestic terminal

Tokyo Haneda (HND)

As Asia's busiest and the 4th busiest airport in the world Haneda mainly serves domestic services in Japan. The airport annually processes around 67 million passengers through 3 terminals. 'Big Bird', as terminal one is known is home to JAL, Japan Transocean Air and Skymark. ANA, Skynet Asia Airways and Air Do operate from terminal 2, while StarFlyer operates from both. Limited international flights are operated from the international terminal by ANA, Asiana, China Eastern, JAL, Korean Air and Shanghai Airlines.

By far the largest carriers are JAL and ANA which operate anything from a 56 seat Dash 8-Q300 to a 569 seat 747-400D. Being the main domestic air transport hub, widebodies can be seen in great numbers here, with narrowbodies in the distinct minority. Especially the 747-400D are a rare aircraft not seen outside Japan and ANA has painted 2 in colorful Pokémon colors, very popular with children and Japanese parents alike.

Haneda boosts 3 spotting decks, 2 on Terminal 1 (JAL) and 1 large deck on terminal 2 (ANA). All are covered by a 3m/10ft+ high fence which has holes in them. However, these holes are targeted at the Japanese so they are pretty low for westerners. Night photography can very well be done with the decks being open until 10pm and excellent lighting conditions at the gate and near the pushback.