Japan Airlines SKY MUSEUM in Tokyo is Amazing!
Posted by deadxilence@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 28 comments
I just wanted to share this with a bunch of other avgeeks, but if anyone here finds themselves in Tokyo with a few extra hours to kill near Haneda Airport, Japan Airlines has an amazing deal on the Sky Museum + Maintenance Hanger tour for 1000 JPY. The whole thing lasted about 2-2.5hrs.
*I strongly recommend reserving well in advance* as dates do sell out weeks before, and just know that the hanger tour is done completely in Japanese so it may be hard to understand it if you don't speak the language. They have a strict *NO VIDEO* policy inside the hangars, but photos are allowed. You can watch takeoffs/landings from the hangar doors too.
This is not an advertisement, I just genuinely got so much joy from walking around a pristine A350 that I think it is worth sharing.
meh_whatev@reddit
Did you get permission to post the photos? I remember you could take photos but needed to ask permission to post them (unless that changed)
But yes, very very cool display from JAL. It seems they put a fee since I went two years ago,bc it was free back then haha
ANA also offers a tour of their hangars, also exclusively in Japanese, although JAL’s is a lot nicer bc their presentation hall where they explain airport ops is way cooler. It’s called Blue Hangar tour, and same thing check a month in advance. If you don’t find a spot, check everyday until a spot opens
Prestigious-Gap-1649@reddit
IIRC, you can post JAL metal but not other airlines using JAL hangar.
motorailgun@reddit
Looks like it's allowed now:
I'm so glad to see this tour recognized by geeks on this sub!
meh_whatev@reddit
Hell yeah that’s awesome, thank you for linking 🙏
motorailgun@reddit
It's nothing!
lemmonquaaludes@reddit
I just want to call out photo number 4, and say shame on Japan Airlines for hoarding all the bootstraps people are supposed to be picking themselves up by. No wonder all of our lives suck!
ParticularLivid9201@reddit
It costs money now? Used to be free...But 1000 is not much I guess.
Odd_Mushroom_8322@reddit
Aside from the winglet, what is another easy tell that its an a350 or 787?
Select-View-4786@reddit
holy fuck !
JustPlaneNew@reddit
Cool
Euphoria73@reddit
I have been to this museum as well with my Japan trip and it was honestly so amazing!! I also happened to see the A350 up close when I visited. Sounds like you had a splendid time there!
dc469@reddit
I was going to say, that's a really shiny paint coat on that plane, it so clean. Then I realized, ofc, it's Japan!
deadxilence@reddit (OP)
I looked it up to see if the plane (JA05XJ) had been grounded for a while and it looks like it was only on the ground for the date of my tour, May 12th. Flying on the 11th and the 13th, so if that is the case then JAL do an incredible job keeping their planes clean or cleaning them frequently!
steeg88@reddit
I did the tour in March and it was incredible! Being a photographer I was so impressed at photography being allowed as much as it was, we only weren’t allowed to photo non JAL planes. I must have been lucky on the day I went as we did have an English language tour, there were about 7 of us English speakers in one tour. I was fully expecting it to be in Japanese so this was a bonus but I don’t think I’d’ve missed much had it been like that.
I later flew on a 21 year old JAL 767 and even wings were immaculate, they really do look after their planes to the smallest detail.
thanksforallthetrees@reddit
You can also do tours of the ANA BLUE BASE at Anamori-Inari station Ota city near Haneda. It’s the main training centre for Pilots, Maintenance, Ground Staff and Cabin Crew. They have all the simulators, emergency slides, turbulence simulators, raft pool, engines, plane mockups, door training etc. really cool behind the scenes look at the whole training operation for an airline.
deadxilence@reddit (OP)
Good recommendation! I'm actually kind of bummed that I did not do the ANA one because I am currently on a round of the world ticket from ANA lol, so it feels rather treasonous to go to the JAL one but I am glad I did.
I will be sure to add it to my list for next time!
urionje@reddit
That sounds incredible, can you share more about that round the world ticket?
SQ_747@reddit
To add, not just book in advance—a month beforehand. It often sells out in like five minutes, too. So, do your due diligence and wait for it. I can't recommend the tour enough. Though there are some English signs here and there, a 737-400 cockpit, among others, and even Imperial Flight memorabilia. Last time I was there, they were stripping JA732J of some remaining internals and testing another 77W's startup outside. It was cold, too!
deadxilence@reddit (OP)
I found my tickets within a month of booking but pickings were slim for dates and times.
I am jealous you got to see a 77W, I have flown on lots of types but have not yet heard the glorious GE90 😭 but one day I will (that or the GE9X)
SQ_747@reddit
That’s right it’s either morning or afternoon or bust lol. It was nice seeing 777s still rule in Japan despite the airlines love for 787. They also let us stay after the tour to see Haneda T1&2 at night + taxiing traffic.
dude496@reddit
Thanks for sharing that! I live about 45 minutes from Haneda and had no clue that JAL has a museum there.
armored-dinnerjacket@reddit
curious why they would allow photos but no videos?
deadxilence@reddit (OP)
I honestly have no clue. Something about the Japanese and their rules... it's like the Germans following rules because, well, the rules exist.
As long as I'm not exposing the privacy of workers or of anyone else on the tour I don't understand why it matters to them if they allow photos, but no videos.
If I was a rival airline maintenance worker, I could in theory sign up for this tour and take so many photos to understand what JAL does differently, not sure that stopping photos/videos does anything about this.
All-Your-Base@reddit
"No sir, I am not filming a video. I am just taking 24 photos per second"
danit0ba94@reddit
That looks like one hell of an operation.
Wowzers.
colonelcasey22@reddit
Another tip...the Family Mart across the street at Shin-Seibijo has JAL and ANA souvenirs and merch for sale too at good prices. Also a huge selection of food and an eating area for the airline employees.
colonelcasey22@reddit
I was there earlier this month and highly recommend it as well. They only had one of two hangers open for viewing when we were there but there were a lot of good views. The tour is entirely in Japanese though so it may be difficult to learn much out of it but there's still a ton to see visually. They let us take a bunch of hanger pics but yeah no videos other than planes moving outside the doors. They also wouldn't allow pics of a 737 undergoing a C check.
post-explainer@reddit
Please provide a source by replying to the message that was sent to you. Failure to respond to that message will result in the automatic removal of this post. Please feel free to reach out to the mod team through modmail if you have any questions or concerns.
r/Aviation is trialing new measures to prevent karma farming. Please feel free to provide feedback through modmail. Thank you for participating in the community!