I Just Had Maybe the Fastest International Arrival Experience Ever at Tokyo Haneda Airport

I recently made my way from New York to Tokyo Haneda on an overnight flight on Japan Airlines. The flight was largely uneventful, and I slept a good chunk of it. I’ve flown this particular route many times, so I mostly know what to expect.

That said, I was still surprised by the fast arrival process at Haneda. Granted, it was at 5 in the morning, but it still goes down as one of my fastest international arrival experiences. It took a total of just 11 minutes from the moment I got off the plane to the moment I got to the Tokyo Monorail platform to head into the city.

Here’s what it was like.

My flight, Japan Airlines flight JL3, arrived at Haneda at 4:33 in the morning. The sun was just about to come up. After a taxi of about 10 minutes, we reached our gate.

We parked at gate 149, which is at one of the ends of the satellite of the main Terminal 3 building. This means that I was due for a relatively long walk, but not the longest walk you can get either.

I deplaned at 4:54. I stopped inside the jetbridge to take the above photo. It was a gorgeous morning, and I had to stop by upon seeing the A350’s winglet shine with the sunrise.

I then began the lengthy walk to immigration and customs. I’d say it took about 5 minutes to reach immigration through this corridor.

Photos and videos are prohibited in immigration and customs at Japanese airports, but the above photo is what Japanese passport holders go through upon arrival and departure at Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports.

There are plenty of them, and there are never any lines. I walk up, scan my passport, take a picture, and the gate opens. The whole thing literally takes about 30 seconds or less, and it was a smooth experience for me again this time at Haneda.

The fact that there aren’t many overseas Japanese travelers right now, in addition to the 5am arrival, also helps with the lines.

Since I had no checked bags, I got to walk right over to customs.

Customs declaration is all electronic. I filled out a questionnaire on Visit Japan Web (yes, even Japanese passport holders have to use “Visit” Japan Web 🥴), scanned the QR code at a kiosk, which gave me a letter. I got the letter “a,” so I walked right through the “a” line.

All of this took an additional 2 or 3 minutes.

And that’s it! I exited, and I was free. I immediately went upstairs to the Monorail platform to head into the city.

The whole process, from deplaning to stepping onto the Monorail platform, took a total of 11 minutes. That was even with the lengthy walk to immigration from gate 149.

Perhaps the amazing thing is that this is the standard level of immigration for Japanese passport holders. I didn’t have a single interaction with airport staff or an immigration officer, and this isn’t some Global Entry equivalent in Japan. This is the standard process for Japanese passports, and that’s what makes it impressive.

I of course knew about a 5:09 rapid train that I was trying to grab, so I was definitely walking with purpose. Still though, the 5am arrival, automatic gates for Japanese passport holders, and no checked bags are quite the combo when arriving in Haneda after an international flight.

The fact that I was on the monorail, heading into the city just 15 minutes after arriving on an international flight, is fantastic. I do this Haneda arrival about 3 times a year, and each time is usually this quick if I don’t have checked bags. This makes the airport one of my favorites, and one of the best in the world for international arrivals (as a Japanese person).

All photos by the author unless otherwise stated.