Return to Haneda

You might think it's odd to visit an airport while on vacation. At least one you aren't traveling through. But my decision to see the Haneda International Terminal while in Japan in August was a personal one.

Someone put a lot of effort into decorating the Edo Market area with all these silk morning glories.

Along with pretty wind chimes. It actually wasn't hot inside the terminal. Outside it definitely was.

They were even hung from the eaves of the shops.

Very festive. Morning glories are definitely the flower of August in Tokyo.

This was a very familiar place to me. The Edo Market inside Haneda International Terminal. Looks like some of the shops have changed from when I was here March 11, 2011.

A few more food vendors. That is good. Wish Calbee had been here back then.

Nice they are now. I ended up buying one of their new limited potato chips.

The unagi eel was so tempting but I didn't think it would last in the heat.

Kimuraya Bakery even has a place here.

I could not resist getting a choco cornet チョコレートコルネ. It is a pastry that is shaped like a horn filled with a thick chocolate cream. Kimuraya's version was delicious and the cream was smooth and melted in my mouth. Definitely worth getting.

The Hello Kitty Japan store upstairs was still there. I admit to buying a couple gotouchi charms. I'm not really into Hello Kitty any more but I find the charms a small, fun and inexpensive way to remember places I've seen in Japan.

On that level are observation decks. I was either brave or a fool to go out in the blistering heat. But I did just to take a couple photos to share. Way off in the distance in the center is Sky Tree.

And at the opposite end of the deck is Tokyo Bay and parts of the Tokyo Bay Aqualine. That's a 9.6 underwater tunnel plus a bridge that runs from Yokohama to Chiba. On the right is the entrance to the tunnel in Yokohama. The round thing in the middle, that is the Kaze no To 風の塔 or Tower of Wind. It's a giant ventilation shaft in the middle of the tunnel and also a power source for it.

Escaping the heat I went back into the terminal. The space theme section was still there.

Along with this space traveler.

It may seem strange that I went to Haneda Airport but it was important to me. I spent the night of March 11, 2011 right about here. Unable to leave because of the Great Tohouku Earthquakes, wondering what happened, worrying if I had a place to go and more so feeling huge concern for all those affected by the quakes and tsunami. Looking up as each aftershock happened wondering if the glass in the ceiling would break and rain down on us. So emotionally for me returning here was something I needed.

Here is one of my posts about being there at that time if you are interested in reading what it was like. Walking the same paths I did that night, visiting areas and even the same vending machine I bought water from back then, my thoughts were about that time and about how much loss there was. It was something I needed to do.