Airport

LAX international is great once you get through security, at the drop off it is a mess. But dont fret over being at the right airline sign it is one terminal and although large everyone is going to go to essentially the same place at least prior to security. So find the most empty spot, probably at the end of the terminal.

Hanada is huge, probably larger than LAX just scanning from the outside while on the shuttle between the international and domestic gates. 

Signage is pretty clear customs and immigration at this location and the Japanese people are amazingly helpful and exceedingly polite if you get lost in the process. Getting through immigration with a US Passport was a breeze.

At customs is where you will declare any items including medication, the customs agent will want to see your medication and match what is on the form. It is critical you did a good job filling the import certificate correctly so they can match up what is on the form to the pill box/bottle you have. Your items must be in the original bottle/box do not transfer things to your own containers. Just remember these persons are customs agents not pharmacists they just want to see that what you have is what is on the form.

Once you are done there follow the signs to the domestic checkin counter which was a short walk to the right. You must get a boarding pass for your next flight at this point, prior to going to the bus that takes you to the domestic terminal. Don’t get on a bus until you do this. The counter is where you can re-check your baggage to your next domestic destination.

Once you have re-checked your bag and have an actual boarding pass you can go through security and then go to the bus that will take you to the domestic gates. This is where you will appreciate how large Hanada airport is. There are 2 busses going to 2 locations make sure to find your flight on the screen and get on the right bus!

New Chitose is your destination for Sapporo and it is a much smaller airport since you already did immigration and customs that is not necessary at New Chitose airport. You can just head straight for the train.

Train to Sapporo Station and subway to my Sapporo, Torohira-ku AirBnB.

You are almost there! Now you will see signs annoyingly mostly on the train itself saying you can’t use your IC card on the train. That is and is not true. If you are going from New Chitose to Sapporo you are good to use your IC card which saves you the step of having to buy a ticket at the machine. You did get your IC card already, right? If you dont have one then either get one now or buy a paper ticket at one of the kiosks.

Here is the thing about those signs saying you can’t use IC cards on the train. What they are trying to say is you cant travel between zones with an IC card. To better understand read-on.

Like most metro systems the charge for the transportation is determined by where you started and ended your trip. This is accomplished by tapping in at the beginning and tapping-out at the end.

Let’s say you are going from New Chitose airport to Hokadate. These locations exist in two totally different zones and even after tapping-in with your IC card at New Chitose the tap-out in Hokadate is not able to determine where you tapped-in because it was in a different zone. In Hokadate it appears to the system that you never tapped-in and as such there is no way to calculate how much to charge your IC card. 

Luckily the train ride from New Chitose is in the same zone as Sapporo and you can use your IC card on this train travel!

More to come but this is useful as it is so it’s Published.