Hi, it’s Mee-wa.

My husband and I had a little business to do at “Narita Airport” the other day, but the atmosphere in the whole place was not “ordinary” at all.

Two “Tokyo” Airports?

Before I go any further, I should probably introduce to you a little about Narita Airport.

As you may know, Narita Airport is not located in Tokyo, but in the northern part of Chiba Prefecture, and it takes more than 40 minutes to go to central Tokyo by train.

Narita Airport has been one of the representative gateways to the world from Japan.

Although it is not located in Tokyo, Narita Airport is often indicated as “Tokyo” in the airline and travel industries. On the other hand, there is an airport actually located in Tokyo, which is called “Haneda Airport.”
(Narita and Haneda airports are both indicated as “Tokyo.” This is very confusing, isn’t it?)

Haneda Airport is mainly used for domestic airlines in Japan, while Narita Airport is rather used for international airlines.

Many Japanese people who live in the suburbs of Tokyo use Narita Airport to travel overseas.

Very few people at Narita Airport

The photos below are the international arrival lobbies “A and B” on the 1st floor of the 2nd terminal in Narita Airport as of July 12, 2021.

There were few people there, although the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games were coming very soon.
Also, there were only limited number of airlines displayed on the boards.
This is not what it usually is!

The following photos are the international departure lobby (check-in counter) on the 3rd floor of the 2nd terminal.

The whole floor was very quiet.  Maybe there were more airport/airline staff walking there than travelers.
This is absolutely NOT ordinary!

Yet some shops were open!

Only some restaurants and shops in the airport were open.
Pokemon Shop was open as usual and I saw some people enjoying their shopping.

I hope that everything will go back to normal soon and Narita Airport will recover its energy again.