On March 4th I was up at 6:00 (painfully early for me) for final preparations. I saw my first sunrise in ages, which made my early rise worth it.

Hideaki (my husband) saw me off to the airport. I knew I’d appreciate his company, but I was surprised how much I needed him- my bags were super-heavy. I know I’ve over-packed, but with a trip involving three seasons it’s hard to travel light. Hopefully I’ll be able to send unneeded stuff home by takkyubin (Japan’s convenient courier services).

While at the airport, we had just enough time for breakfast. If you’re from North America, you might be wondering why we’d choose to eat at the airport- everybody knows that airport food is dreadful and overpriced, right? Well, not in Japan. Most airports have a good selection of restaurants serving foom that ranges from decent to excellent, and the prices are similar to department store restaurants- not dirt cheap, but you don’t feel like you’re being ripped off, either.

Haneda airport’s new Terminal 2 is especially known for its restaurants, so much so that people actually go there to eat rather than fly. We chose a place called Monzaemon, a place that specializes in tempura, soba and kamadaki onigiri (rice balls made with rice cooked in a clay pot) and was offering breakfast combos. We skipped the typical asa-teishoku (set Japanese breakfast of grilled fish, miso soup, rice and pickles), Hideaki choosing an onigiri set: 2 onigiri (one filled with okaka- soy sauce mixed with bonito flakes- and one with salted salmon), dashimaki tamago (thick rolled omelette), miso soup and pickles.




I had the asagayu set, which was a big bowl of okayu (congee, or rice porridge) with a variety of toppings with the same omelette as the other set. Delicious, filling and healthy, this might have been the best airport meal I’ve had ever. Cost: 880 yen.

Both meals arrived very promptly after ordering, but my okayu was too hot to eat quickly and made me have to hurry to catch my flight. Next time I’ll keep temperature in mind when ordering a meal at the airport.


I flew from Haneda to Shin-Chitose Airport in Chitose, near Sapporo, Hokkaido. The 90-minute flight was with Air Do, Hokkaido’s discount carrier, and cost 18050 yen for a one-way ticket.

Upon arrival I went straight from baggage claim to the train station, so didn’t get to explore the airport or city. But from the train there didn’t seem to be much to see. One area several blocks long consisted of nothing but chain stores- chain restaurants, chain video stores, chain used book stores. All in brightly-painted, identical box-like structures, with big ugly signs along the road.

Luckily, the city was small and we were soon passing fields and forests covered in snow, and the landscape looked remarkably like that of Southern Ontario. It reminded me of when I used to take the train to London, Ontario to visit my sister. Nearly 20 years ago- am I that old??