“All human life can be found in an airport.”
– David Walliams

Tagged as the third busiest airport in Japan and the largest in Hokkaido, New Chitose Airport is the premiere gateway to the northern part of Japan, Hokkaido.The New Chitose Airport is located approximately 45 kilometers from the Sapporo city center and can be easily reached by trains and buses. It was opened in 1991 to replace the adjacent Chitose Airport built in 1963. It became the first 24-hour airport in Japan in 1994. Currently, they have international flights to South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hawaii and Russia.

Unlike the more famous Narita and Haneda Airport, New Chitose Airport is the most underrated airport in Japan. As Tokyo is more touristy than Hokkaido, less non-Japanese people are appreciating the nice things that New Chitose Airport is offering. This is actually my most favorite airport in Japan as it can actually be a tourist destination on its own. One can generally spend a whole day in this airport without getting bored. Even those who are not having a flight will have fun in New Chitose Airport.

Aside from the usual tourist shops found in any airport, here are 6 things people can enjoy at the New Chitose Airport.

1. Splurge with Hokkaido Food

As it is the gateway to Hokkaido, you can fully enjoy the splendour of the North at the airport. Hokkaido is well known for its fresh produce and seafood. It is said that Hokkaido seafood is so delicious because of the well-nourished aquatic resources in the plankton-rich Oyashio current streaming through the Pacific Ocean near the island. You can try the rich tastes of salmon, sea urchin, crab or ikura at the seafood restaurants in the airport.

Aside from the seafood, you can also the famous Hokkaido cuisines at the airport including the soup curry, genghis khan (grilled lamb meat) and butadon.

Consisting of ten shops, the Ramen Dojo is boasting various types of ramen from different parts of Hokkaido. You definitely need more than a day at the airport to try all these ramen.

At the easternmost side of the domestic terminal, there is a food court facing the airport’s main runway. This serves as an observation deck so people can enjoy the runway view while eating a sumptuous meal. The food court was designed to cater primarily for families as it is consists of shops offering food at a cheap price and fast service. There is a wide variety of food to choose at the food court which serves Chinese, Korean, Indian and traditional Japanese food

2. Watch a good movie at the Cinema

This is a unique feature of the New Chitose airport. Although Japan is very late in showing foreign films, the cinema is still a great way of consuming your time during a long lay-over time at the airport. Make sure to also visit the mini-theater at the Calbee Showroom beside the cinema which shows how they produce the Calbee potato chips.

3. Enjoy the mini-museums

If you like airplanes, there are two mini-museums that might interest you at the airport located near the food court at the third floor of the domestic terminal.

The Chitose Sky Museum exhibits aviation replicas and memorabilia.It features excellent small models of the airplanes through history. There are even actual airplane tires on display.

On the other side, a historic museum can be visited showing the history of the old and new Chitose airport. Diagram of aircraft history can be seen on the wall. At the center of the museum space are uniforms of flight attendants that were part of the airport’s history.

And there are also some Ainu designs on display along the vicinity of the airport. The Ainu are the indigenous people who lives in Hokkaido.

4. Geek out with your favorite anime/manga.

This is one of my favorite part of the airport. Whenever I go to the New Chitose Airport, I am always excited to go to this shop known as Animate.

This shop is a haven for anime/manga lovers like me as it offers a nice collection of items from different anime like my favorites One Piece and Shingeki No Kyojin. I just bought big acrylic key holder with One Piece characters from my last visit.

At the 4th floor of the airport is the Snow Miku Sky Town which is consists of a shop and a museum featuring the character of Snow Miku. This character is the winter version of the humanoid persona Hatsune Miku developed as an advertising symbol of a singing synthesizer created by the company Crypton Future Media. Snow Miku has been a steady character at the Sapporo Winter Festival since its company has been sponsoring the event religiously. There is also a theater showing the natural scenery of Hokkaido using 360-degree whole circumference image.

In addition, you can also have fun at the arcade to win some anime-inspired loots.

5. Have fun at the Smile Road

If you have problem in traveling with kids, worry not! There are so many things for the children to enjoy at the New Chitose Airport. The Smile Road was designed to treat children, and even adults, with lots of fun during their stay at the airport. There are three major attractions at the Smile Road and these are: the Royce Chocolate World, the Steiff Nature World and the Doraemon Waku Waku Sky Park.

Royce is a famous Japanese chocolate brand established in the 1980’s in Hokkaido. Therefore, the airport should let the tourists get acquainted with this home-grown product. The Royce Chocolate World is consists of a mini factory showing the technology of crafting the Royce chocolates, a museum about chocolates and a shop that will satisfy cravings for the Royce products.

Steiff is a famous German-based stuffed-animal toy company established in 1880. Teddy bears and large stuffed animals are on display in their own theme park at the New Chitose Airport called “Nature World”. Although the main exhibit has an entrance fee, there are still small rooms where the children can play with the Steiff plush toys for free.

Who will not adore the famous alien cat “Doraemon”? Both adults and children will enjoy the Doraemon Waku Waku Sky Park. The park has a library, a workshop, a park, an amusement zone and a cafe. What else can you ask for?

Oh and yes, there is also a shop with Hello Kitty merchandise.

6. Relax at the hot spring

Another unique feature of the New Chitose Airport is its hot spring (onsen). It is definitely the best way of relaxing at the airport while waiting for your flight. The salinity of the hot spring promotes superior moisture retention in the skin. The hot bath is also known to improve blood circulation.

So the next time you go to Hokkaido via the New Chitose Airport, make sure you have enough time to spend in this underrated amazing airport.