Bound for Miyakojima - I

Does sunrises in Japan ever get boring?

Four months ago, this was the beautiful sunrise that I saw while waiting to board my ANA flight to Miyakojima from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport Terminal 2. It was so impressive that I grabbed my camera from my camera bag to take the photo. It was still a bit early in the departure lounge as there was no staff or other individuals waiting to board as it was only 646 am. I had arrived an hour earlier when it was still dark as I was not sure how much time it would take to navigate through all of the various ‘check points’ and did not want to take any chances.

So why Miyakojima?

Miyakojima isn’t the first place that one thinks about when visiting Japan. But, as a seasoned traveller to Japan, I decided that I wanted to go somewhere bright, colourful and warm; for at least the first part of my trip. I am not exactly sure I remember why I chose Miyakojima and not Okinawa. They are in the same region but the more I researched about what Miyakojima had to offer the more I wanted to go.

When I booked my flights from Vancouver to Tokyo and then to Miyakojima, I knew that I would not be able to fly to Miyakojima right away, as there were no late afternoon flights. Normally, flights to Tokyo from Vancouver arrive around 3 pm JST and flights to Miyakojima started early in the morning and ended early afternoon (at least for the times that I wanted). My only option for a direct flight was to take an early morning flight at 745 am from Haneda Airport Terminal 2 the next day. All of the later flights had one layover and I did not want to waste the start of my trip with more airport lounges.

Google Maps sample flight from Tokyo to Miyakojima

My flight to Miyakojima was my second domestic flight in Japan. The last time I had taken a domestic flight was when I connected to Nagasaki from Tokyo with friends in 2018. We did not not need to leave Haneda airport and transferred from the International side (Terminal 3) to the Domestic side (Terminal 2) by shuttle bus. This was my first time entering Terminal 2 from the outside, so I wanted to make sure I gave myself enough time to get through all of the ‘check points’ and arrived at 530 am. Christmas season was still in the air as there were a ton of decorations everywhere. I walked around as it was my first time in Terminal 2 and took some photos of the architectures and interesting things before heading off to drop my bags and pass through security. I don’t know what the typical time required to get through the various ‘check points’ for a domestic flights is in Japan but the recommended time is about two hours in Canada. Using that as my timeline, it did not too long as it was still early I guess so I had time to checkout the passenger area. And now you are caught up on my activities before my flight.

Google Earth View of Haneda Airport Terminal 2

Once we boarded, I decided that I would try my hand at making a time lapse video from the plane of our take off. The result turned out well that I later posted it on my Instagram account once I checked in to my hotel. So far, it was beautiful sunny day and the take off was very smooth. I now just had to wait the length of the flight to start my trip.

My time lapse video of our departure from Haneda Airport Terminal 2 with my iPhone 14 Pro in Dec 2022