I’ve heard lots of good things about the Japan Airlines First Class Lounge at Haneda International Airport and I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint. From a wide open space to good food and drinks to just overall decor, this lounge offers something for everyone and is a treat to relax in. Let’s get into what made this lounge so great.
Lounge Info
- Location: Terminal 3, 4th and 5th floors
- Hours: 6:00 a.m. until the last departure of the day. JAL Salon hours: 6:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. till close.
- Eligibility: First class Passengers and their guest, OneWorld Emerald passengers on a OneWorld flight, or Japan Airlines Mileage Bank members with eligible status. Full eligibility rules here.
Layout and Atmosphere
My favorite thing about this lounge is honestly just the aesthetics of it. Japan is known for its unique architecture and designs and this lounge holds true to that. The decorations are simple, yet elegant while still giving off that classic Japanese feel. You can tell that the designers put a lot of thought into the lighting, colors, and finishes to really highlight Japanese culture.
Starting right at the entrance, the cream colored floors are lined with wooden walls composed of thin columns that give the entrance a very traditional Japanese look. This kind of decor is consistent throughout the lounge as well. I appreciated the various plants found around the lounge that helped add some greenery and color to the surroundings.
After proceeding past the reception, you’ll come to a fork with a map of the lounge. I would say that this lounge can be divided into 3 main sections: JAL table which is the main dining and lounge area, the shower area, and the upstairs area featuring JAL Salon.
From here, you can either proceed left towards the showers and the upstairs section or proceed right towards the JAL Table.
This lounge is cool since it features two floors with the upstairs level accessed by turning left at the fork and either taking the stairs or elevator up. This area features the JAL Salon, which is another sitting section that serves artisanal Japanese drinks. I was pretty disappointed I couldn’t check this out since it is only open during specific hours, either early in the morning or later at night. So depending on when your flight departs, you may not be able to access it. Massage chairs and additional seating options can also be found at this level.
Since the JAL Salon was closed, I spent all of my time on the 4th floor in the area known as the JAL Table. Getting to this area is cool because you have to walk down a hallway that is lined with Japanese folding doors. It just looked very artsy and isn’t something you’d likely see in any other country.
The JAL Table is basically just a large rectangular room full of dining tables, lounge chairs, privacy seats, and a long floor to window section that overlooks the runway. There is a center pathway that cuts across the whole lounge and leads you directly to the Red Suite, which is a private quiet area that features more seating.
The entire lounge is very big but I was still surprised by the amount of people in there. I wouldn’t say it was crowded but it definitely was not empty. This isn’t a big issue though because all of the things are pretty spaced out. This helps keep the noise levels in the lounge down but it is for sure not as quiet as the Qantas First Class Lounge in LAX. Maybe it’s because I was there during a busy time (6 PM on a Saturday).
Seating
The main seating area in the JAL Table can be divided into 3 sections. You have the seats along the windows facing the runway, the lounge chairs away from the dining area, and the main dining area.
I had no problem at all finding seating in any of these 3 sections and appreciated how spaced out they were from each other. It didn’t feel cramped at all and everyone had ample space to themselves.
The first section you’ll encounter when entering the JAL Table is a seating area featuring lounge chairs and mini drink tables. You can actually cut off from the entrance hallway into this area via a small room with seats and privacy barriers.
This area is great if you want some added privacy and it even features a coat rack as well.
In the actual seating area itself, you’ll find the lounge chairs with their mini tables. I personally preferred the long counter along the windows because they gave great views and also had lots of charging ports.
After you walk past this section and proceed further into the lounge, you’ll come across the dining area. This area featured my favorite part of the lounge which is a row of small dining tables with chairs that face towards the windows. You get fantastic views of the runway and can see lots of planes. I was even able to see the 777-300 ER my brother was about to depart in. It’s just a cool area to be an AV geek and plane watch. Unfortunately, Haneda International Airport isn’t big enough to support A380s so I didn’t see any of those aircraft.
Dining Area
The dining area itself is huge and offers various seating options. There are rows of long dining tables, proper circular dining tables, as well as couches with tables.
The coolest part about this area was the chef’s counter. Here, you can see the chefs and staff preparing sushi and the other delicious dishes you can order.
Food
This lounge relies heavily on the mobile app so every seating table has a QR code that you scan to pull up the menu.
The food options offered at the lounge were great. You place your orders via the app and the whole process is straightforward. JAL rotates what food offerings there are based on the date, so you can check what will be offered here.
I’m always down to eat sushi so of course I had to start with that as my first order. The sushi comes out in a cute little plate with 3 pieces of assorted sushi, There is tuna, seabass (nodokuro), and egg. The sushi was pretty fresh and tasty. It wasn’t as good as some of the sushi you can find in Japan but for lounge standards, it was terrific. There’s also a vegan sushi option which I didn’t end up trying but someone said it tastes surprisingly good.
Next was the special beef curry that I’ve heard a lot about. It was pretty good too but I wasn’t super blown away.
Following the curry was the yuzu ramen. This was my least favorite thing I ordered since I felt the yuzu flavor was a little bit too overpowering. The noodles had a great texture though.
I also wanted to try something from the Western menu and ended up ordering the wild sea bream with saffron rice. I was actually pretty impressed with how great the flavor was although the portion was a bit small.
Next, was the bento. Look at how beautiful the presentation is. It featured grilled fish, mentaiko (pollock roe), egg, pickles, seaweed, rice, and miso soup. This bento was very tasty and offered a lot of different flavors.
Lastly, for dessert, I ordered the tiramisu which was very rich and creamy and very delicious. Would recommend ending your meal with this!
Drinks
There’s an ample selection of self serve drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic. The interesting thing was that there was no bartender, which I didn’t expect.
However, I appreciated that the beer glasses were kept cold in a fridge lol.
But the absolute coolest thing was the set of automatic beer pourers. I really enjoy Japanese beers since they pour it in a way where there’s foam on top and it was awesome to see that this machine could do that too automatically.
Next to the beer machines is an assorted selection of liquor. You have your normal spirits along with some sake and other Japanese alcohol. There’s also a bucket full of ice and champagne.
At the very end of the drink section is the automatic coffee machine. I ended up getting a cappuccino which was a great pick me up.
There’s also another section of assorted alcohol further down the lounge next to the TV that displays departures and arrivals.
Amenities
The First Class lounge features a few amenities like a locker room, phone booths, and a smoking room.
Red Suite
The most unique feature of this lounge is definitely the Red Suite. It’s a separate set of rooms at the end of the lounge that offers more privacy and quiet compared to the rest of the lounge. The aesthetics in this area were great. I appreciated the vintage look of this area and how it features sleek furniture and accessories like this globe.
I didn’t expect there to be a game room but there is an area with a foosball table and some chess tables. I felt that the foosball table was a little out of place because I couldn’t imagine playing a game and making so much noise when the rest of the Red Suite was so quiet.
This area also features a room for just drinks. There are champagne and sake glasses on one side of the room and right in the center is an ice bucket featuring some nice Sake and champagne.
The Red Suite is a super cool area and worth checking out. If you prefer quieter areas, I would definitely recommend relaxing here. The only downside is that it is kind of out of the way from the rest of the lounge and is a decent walk away from the bathrooms.
Bathroom and Showers
This lounge also features a set of showers near the entrance. You must first reserve a time slot via the app and then go to reception to get the key to your shower.
The inside of the shower room is beautiful. It’s decently large and features full floor to ceiling glass doors complete with a fixed shower head and a detachable one. In my opinion, the only downside of the showers was the lack of lotions and creams.
Conclusion
Overall, the Japan Airlines First Class lounge at Haneda airport is terrific. It offers a huge space with an interior design and ambiance that is uniquely Japanese. Experiencing that along with being able to enjoy unobstructed views of the runway directly from the lounge is truly a treat. The only real downside I saw was the awkward opening hours of the JAL Salon. But other than that, the fantastic dining options and the unique amenities like the Red Suite more than makeup for it.
