For the past several years, when the summer heat becomes too much, I have been abandoning outdoor photography and going to Haneda Airport, where I can hang out indoors in an air-conditioned hall.
This is exactly the time when it is so hot in Tokyo. I was so excited that I decided to take the Keikyu train to Haneda Airport.
I waited at a certain station on the Subway Asakusa Line, and as luck would have it, a “rapid express” train of the highest class arrived at the Haneda Airport Terminal 3 station, nonstop from Shinagawa.
You can see the “Tokyo National Museum” advertisement wrapped around the pillar in the foreground. I think it is for inbound tourists, but I will be aware later that the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno is running quite a large volume of advertisements at Haneda.
Anyway, it is very hot, so I am trying to save labor and weight, and what I have on hand this time is a Panasonic LUMIX GF10 and a genuine 12-32mm zoom.
Now, speaking of Terminal 3 at Haneda Airport, I visited there in the middle of the Corona era the year before last. What a disaster it was.
At that time, 1T/2T of domestic flights seemed to be “marginally alive”, but 3T of international flights was entirely quiet and sad, almostl dead.
Compared to that, the current 3T looks much “revived”.
It is a relief to know that two years ago, there were no people in this spacious lobby, which was a frightening sight.
The Edo Koji area for souvenirs and food and beverages was also quite busy. I am not sure if the percentage of foreign visitors is about 10-20%, but it is a rough guess.
I’m sure it’s not like this during peak season/peak hours, but the check-in counter seemed to be operating at a good level there.
There is a constant flow of people around the “Haneda Nihonbashi” area as well. Anyway, the impression of “that time” was so strong that I have said many times that I was really relieved.
This is a kind of “We Are Tokyo” inner-branding ad featuring the airlines, various airport facilities, and the people who work in the air and on the ground at Haneda Airport. The impression may vary from viewer to viewer, but I liked it very much.
It was over 36 degrees outside, so I didn’t even think about going out on the rooftop under the blazing sun to take pictures of aircraft shadows in the airport. I was too lazy to wander around the air-conditioned sections of the building.
I guess the liveliest area was the arrival lobby. What my eyes and camera caught was the image of Haneda International Airport returning to “normal” busy operation.
I’ve been writing a photography blog for a number of years, but I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that all I do is walk around and click the shutter without thinking about the subject matter, composition, or direction of my photos. It is too hot in Tokyo right now to reflect on such things and repent. For the time being, I’m busy just taking pictures.
Besides taking pictures of the 3T, which is regaining its energy, I have another goal for this visit to Haneda, but I’ll leave that for next issue.
