English: New Chitose Airport, Chitose, Hokkaido prefecture, Japan 日本語: 新千歳空港, 北海道千歳市 Camera: DSLR-A700 Lens: SAL16105 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of the busiest domestic airplane routes in the world is between Tokyo and Chitose, with several carriers operating multiple flights each day. The New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido is clean and well organized to accommodate both domestic and international visitors. It has many features you would expect from an airport, such as foreign exchange, dressing rooms, kids’s play areas, wheelchair and stroller rentals, and nurseries.
It also has opened a non-denominational prayer room on a trial basis. A duty-free shop is in the international wing, and shops featuring Hokkaido products are located throughout the airport. Enjoy a meal at one of the many restaurants while waiting for your flight.
Sapporo Seafoods 札幌シーフーズ (photo: hokkaidolikers.com)
To try some amazing sushi, try Sapporo Seafoods 札幌シーフーズ which sells packaged seafood to take home and has a sushi corner as well. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and can give some great recommendations on what’s in season in Hokkaido. Sapporo Seafoods has a multi-lingual touch-screen tablet for foreign customers to help in ordering as well. Regional delicacies include ikura salmon roe, raw herring, mackeral and scallops to name a few all delivered fresh daily from the Sapporo central fish market.
The New Chitose Airport is outside of Sapporo in Hokkaido. Take the JR Rapid Airport Express to Sapporo Station; it runs at 15 minute intervals and takes just over a half hour for the fastest trip. Alternately, there is a bus that runs to downtown Sapporo for 1000 yen. It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. For more information: http://www.new-chitose-airport.jp/en/
