fedification.com

JAL Meal – Sushi and Mini Kikkoman Bottle

Tokyo, Japan – Of course, no one considers the airport a true reflection of a place.  You’re not going to get New York’s chewiest bagels at JFK or a great bowl of Bangkok noodles at Suvarnabhumi or sublime sushi at Narita, where I had my layover en route to New York.  Still airports manage to channel their cities of residence, cities from which they often seem completely removed, with products, services and mannerisms that you may not find elsewhere in the world.  You’re enveloped in the country’s official language seen on signs and heard all around from citizens, who dominate the airport’s fluxing population, with their native tongue and customs.  The airport seems to be a satellite of its country, uniquely of that place, but separated in some other orbit.  At Bangkok and Chiang Mai’s airports, you can kick back for a foot massage.  In Boston, you can dip into a bowl of chowder at Legal Seafood.

During my two-hour layover in Tokyo, I killed time in a Japanese convenience store stocked with wonderfully packaged pickled plums, mochi, wasabi peas and unsweetened green tea (an exotic treat for me coming from Thailand where the green tea tastes like honey water), and then watch pig-tailed Japanese children chase each other around the waiting area.

On my Japan Airlines flights, we were given warm towels to clean our hands, served sushi with the cutest mini Kikkoman soy sauce bottles and entertained with animated courtesy videos, showing passengers the merits of informing the customer behind you when reclining your chair or warning that alcohol has a greater effect at higher altitudes.

On one flight, the man sitting next to me was a friendly Japanese businessman, who first mistook me for a Japanese national (my grandmother would be so proud), and later spelled out my name for me in kanji making sure to include the English translations.  My first name means truth, a lifelong affliction, and my last means upper plains, most likely because I have hillbilly ancestors.  In broken English, he showed me different parts of Japan on a map, noting the local specialties and weather condition.  Kagoshima, where my great grandparents are from, has great seafood.  Sendai oysters are famous.  And there’s skiing near Sapporo in the north, which is colder, while the south is warmer, he told me. “When I retire,” he said, “I want to travel the world with my wife.” I couldn’t imagine a sweeter endorsement for both traveling and marriage.  Sure, I still can’t say I’ve been to Japan, but after getting even the most watered down taste, I want to go so much more than when it was a vague far away place.

Box of Matcha Cookies in a Tokyo Airport Shop

Sweets in Tokyo Airport Shop

Tea in a Tokyo Airpot Shop

Friendly On-Flight Message from JAL