Blog - Haneda date
Haneda date
Yesterday I had the day off and we went to Haneda airport. It was the first time I went to Haneda, and also the first time I went to an airport without any plan to take the plane (or to meet or say goodbye to someone).
With no interest in the large boards announcing the flights, and no hurry of having to check in and be at a certain place at a certain time, the airport felt more like a big mall with plenty of shops and restaurants of all kinds.
Ok, so the main reason to go there was to buy some JAL commemorative airline bags, which have started selling just this week and are limited to 1000 each! Each is inspired from a design of the 60's and uses the old JAL logo with the crane. I got both of them!
The red one has the same design as the two blue bags I had already (those two are real vintage, it seems), and the white one is same as the official JAL bag for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, though instead of the Olympics logo is the JAL logo on both sides.
So if you spot a white guy in the city with a JAL airline bag with the old logo, whether blue or red or white, it's probably me. :)
After securing the bags, we walked around the airport for a little bit of window-shopping, and then headed to the observatory (roof). There I was surprised to find a kids' playground like those sometimes found on the rooftops of department stores. Most of the rides looked quite aged, though the direct exposure to weather probably helps to that, and I took a bunch of photos.
Then we walked some more around the roof while watching a bunch of planes leave, at least one every 5 minutes.
Larger sizes, and a few more, at Flickr
Posted on August 24, 2007 at 23:14 | Tweet
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cool. but where's the shot of you modelling the bags? :) i know i shouldn't be surprised by that sailor moon ride, but for some reason i am...
Posted by william on August 25, 2007 at 00:14
Did you go to terminal 2? It's the newer one and alot more modern than big bird. I often drive out to Haneda for dinner at West Park Cafe.
For a while Haneda was the 2nd largest airport in the world behind Chicago O'hare.
Posted by Roy on August 25, 2007 at 02:08
It's funny, but I have the vintage blue bag - found it at goodwill in nearly unused condition. Now I'm wondeirng what it's worth!
Not that I'd probably sell it. It's a great bag. I like using it.
Posted by rebecca on August 26, 2007 at 00:07
William, sorry no photo for now, maybe later. :)
Roy, figures you go there every now and then. :) We went to terminal 2 a little bit but there didn't seem to be much to see there.
Rebecca, cool!! Around here I've seen the bags at vintage shops for about 3000-4000yen, looking just like new. That's about the same price as the new ones that just came out.
Posted by Patrick on August 27, 2007 at 01:36
lol when i had a first glance at those pictures, I thought they where taken on the roof of the Hankyu department store in Shinjuku. Never knew they had playgrounds on the roofs of every big department store. But great idea though, keeps the children far away :P Although Japanese children are more quiet than western ones.
Nice bag, but onitsuka all the way for me baby :P
Posted by PapiGiulio on August 27, 2007 at 14:15