Aika Kanda’s Haneda-Naha Status Journey – Part 1

An important training day.

On a certain day in October, at 5:30 AM, just before dawn, I was sitting on a sofa in the JAL First Class Lounge at Haneda Airport’s domestic terminal. To cool the burning flames of my heart, I downed a beer. In front of me, on the still-dark runway, was a JAL aircraft that shone brighter than the rest. Today was an important training day that would determine my social standing for the coming year.

The social status I want to protect at all costs is my JAL membership status. When flying with JAL, I accumulate points, and based on these, I receive a corresponding status rank the following year. For 11 years, I have maintained the highest rank.

The path to maintaining this status is never easy. In fact, even now, I’m on the edge of whether I can keep it for next year. To reach the target points, I have to fly a lot before the end of the year. Therefore, today, I decided to take two round trips from Haneda Airport to Naha Airport in Okinawa, even though I had no business there. This type of activity is referred to as training in the aviation enthusiast community.

I was fully prepared. I broke in a new pair of sneakers I had just purchased. The total flight time for all four flights was 9 hours and 40 minutes. Since I wouldn’t be walking much, I decided to break in the sneakers while training. And I also wrote this column. As I sipped my beer, I felt a sense of pride in my perfect use of time.

My biggest challenge was the in-flight meals. To accumulate more points, I chose First Class for all flights. Delicious meals were served on each flight, which was a blessing, but sitting still and eating four times in one day would definitely make me gain weight. (It’s a waste, but I’ll resist as much as I can!) I promised myself. And then, it was time to embark.

The first flight to Naha was the 6:30 AM departure. The passengers around me were dressed in resort-style dresses or shorts and T-shirts, filled with excitement. But I was a training monk. To keep my spirit unwavering, I decided to ignore them and maintain my distance.

As soon as I sat down, the flight attendant asked me about the in-flight meal. The meal on this flight was Japanese cuisine. I’m not particularly fond of Japanese food, so I declined without hesitation and felt relieved.

Then, I suddenly noticed something on my neighbor’s screen. (This person is also a training monk!) I realized. JAL’s personal monitors allow passengers to view real-time footage from two exterior cameras located near the tail and front wheels of the aircraft. Based on my human observation data, I could guess that many training monks, who are aviation enthusiasts, like to watch this footage during the flight. By this point, my own personal monitor was already set to display the footage from the tail camera. But deep down, I wanted to see both! So, when my neighbor was watching one of the exterior camera feeds, I thought to myself, (Lucky!). I would set my screen to show the other feed, so I could sneakily watch both at once.

 

Even during training, I enjoy both the plane and the airport.

My neighbor was just like me. As soon as they sat down, they started watching the front wheel camera feed. I decided to try switching my monitor to a different screen. Immediately, my neighbor switched to the tail camera view I had been watching earlier.

The fact that they chose the tail camera when they could only view one feed was exactly the same as my behavior! This meant I could definitively conclude that my neighbor was a training monk as well.

While thinking about this, I accidentally fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was above Amami Oshima. As the altitude dropped, I saw the vivid emerald green sea filling the window. (I made it to Okinawa!) I felt a thrill.

It was 9:00 AM. After landing safely, the first leg of my training was complete. Next was the flight to Haneda in 50 minutes. I might have felt rushed, but I had checked in for all the flights earlier in the morning, so I didn’t need to go outside. The strong sunlight streaming through the window of the boarding stairs hit my cheek, and I thought, (Okinawa is definitely hot!) as I enjoyed being in Okinawa.

Then, I went to the duty-free shop at Naha Airport, which only has a domestic duty-free store. There were things I wanted, but I thought, (I can always come back for this later), so I put them back on the shelf and decided to think it over. I also found my favorite mint chocolate at Blue Seal Ice Cream. (I’ll eat this later!) I decided to save that treat for a few hours later.

Before I knew it, it was time to board the second flight. My round-trip training between Haneda and Naha had just begun. Faced with all the events that could happen in the sky, will I, for the first time, lose sight of why I’m so focused on my status? Stay tuned!

★The author’s first book, compiling this series, “Where Does the Path Called the Royal Road Lead?” is now available and receiving great acclaim!

Ai Kanda, born in 1980 in Kanagawa Prefecture, graduated from the Faculty of Science, Department of Mathematics at Gakushuin University. She joined NHK as an announcer in 2003 and retired from NHK in 2012 to become a freelance announcer. Since then, she has been active primarily in variety shows, and currently, she regularly appears as the main MC on the daytime program Poka Poka (Fuji TV network).

From the FRIDAY issue of December 6, 2024.