Japan Airlines 5
New York JFK to Tokyo Haneda
Boeing 777-300
June 19, 2021
1:25P-4:35P+1 (sked)
1:28P-4:01P+1 (actual)
Flight Time: 13hr08min
First Class
Seat 1K



I arrived at JFK a little more than three hours before departure, which was right before the JAL check-in desks opened in Terminal 1. After a thorough document check was completed, as is the norm these days when traveling to Japan, I was successfully checked-in and received an invitation to use the Air France lounge. With plenty of time to spare, I decided to hop on the JFK AirTrain to use the far superior American Express Centurion Lounge in Terminal 4. After a delicious late breakfast of mini pancakes and fried eggs with Irving Farm coffee, I made my way back to Terminal 1.

With no Pre-Check or Priority security lanes available in Terminal 1, it took about 20 minutes to clear security which afforded me about 15 minutes to relax in the Air France lounge. Despite being a Priority Pass lounge, the lounge was open only for JAL passengers until JL5 departs. Only the downstairs (business class) portion of the lounge was currently available (previously, JAL F passengers could use the upstairs portion as well), but there was plenty of seating available. NV Laurent-Perrier was the Champagne on offer, and I treated myself to a glass.

Boarding was announced around 1pm and the Air France Lounge quickly cleared out. Once I got to the gate, they announced boarding would be delayed approximately 10 minutes while the aircraft was being serviced. It was a beautiful day in JFK, and Terminal 1 was surprisingly bustling with a Korean Airlines flight to Seoul and Philippine Airlines flight to Manila boarding at neighboring gates. I didn’t even realize there were currently nonstop flights between New York and Manila!



Boarding finally commenced around 1:15pm with all passengers boarding from door 1L. Normally this would make the first class cabin very busy, but with about 40 passengers onboard today – including just one other F passenger – it wasn’t really an issue today. Hard to believe, but with 40 passengers onboard this was the heaviest load I’ve seen flying to/from Japan this year.

Sometimes you know from the first second you step onboard that it’s going to be an incredible flight – and that’s the exact impression I immediately had today as soon as I was welcomed by Flight Attendants Hara, Hirohara, and Ito. They were all incredibly personable and outgoing – traits you don’t often find in Japanese flight attendants. In my observations with about 25 flights now on each airline, JAL flight attendants tend to be slightly more conservative and reserved compared to their ANA counterparts. Similarly, I generally find the language barrier to be slightly less cumbersome on ANA. Today, however, was definitely going to be the exception to those observations with this exceptional JAL crew.

The JAL F suite hasn’t changed since it was introduced about ten years ago. At the time it was industry-leading with it’s 23” screen and general privacy, but it has since been eclipsed by other products – to include ANA’s new The Suite. That being said, the seat remains perfectly functional and comfortable for my tastes. I’m not one that requires a sliding door to my suite (heck, I didn’t even touch the one that was in my ANA seat). I apologize, but I didn’t manage to take any photos of the seat on this trip but it’s well documented in other trip reports posted here.

As boarding finished, Hirohara came by with a pre-departure glass of Champagne. Again, similar to ANA, JAL pours their business class Champagne for pre-departures in first class. Not a problem in my book, especially knowing that JAL has the absolutely best in-flight Champagne offerings of any airline in first class I didn’t mind waiting a few more minutes in anticipation of the really good bubbles. In the meantime, I was presented with pajamas and an Etro amenity kit plus an additional Shiseido Men supplemental kit of moisturizer, toner, and facewash.

Purser Yamoto stopped by to add her welcome and apologize that our departure would be slightly delayed. Hara followed with some friendly banter – refreshingly uncharacteristic for a Japanese flight attendant – while presenting this afternoon’s menu and wine list in a leather folder. Here’s a look at the gastronomic feast that lied ahead:









We pushed back just three minutes behind schedule, meaning the entire plane was boarded in under 15 minutes! A fairly lengthy taxi to RWY 22R ensued, giving us a pretty good tour around JFK. Soon enough, it was our turn for takeoff and our initial climbout featured a sweeping left turn once we cleared Rockaway Beach with an initial climbout over Nassau County and the Long Island Sound before making landfall again over Stamford, Connecticut. It was a clear afternoon and I was treated to near unrestricted visibility as I looked out over eastern Long Island – where I grew up many years ago.

Passing 10,000 feet, Hirohara sprang into action and asked what I would like to drink. Although I generally prefer ANA’s wine and whisky selection – JAL really needs to be commended on its first class Champagne offerings. In the past, the New York route received Salon in both directions. An absolutely exquisite Champagne that I’ve enjoyed several times on JAL – but that I feel is too delicate to really appreciate inflight. It actually almost seems like a waste to serve this $600+ bottle of Champagne onboard. So, I was actually pleased to see today’s option inbound to Japan had been “downgraded” to the ever-so-slightly more pedestrian 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal. Wow, what a treat! This particular vintage received a range of scores from 98-100 from names such as Robert Parker, James Suckling and Decanter but, more importantly, it just drank beautifully inflight with enough weight and intensity to hold up to the airborne environment. While I certainly appreciate airlines that feature Krug or Dom in first class, JAL really takes it to a whole new level with its Champagne selections.



Accompanying this glorious glass of wine was an off-menu amuse consisting of cheese-stuffed mushroom and orange wrapped in prosciutto. Presumably because she was the most fluent in English – and with absolutely no accent having spent time growing up in New Jersey – Hara came out to take my meal order. I decided to stick with the western steak option, so I could best compare it with my ANA feast from the previous week. Hara seemed disappointed in my selection and asked if I would also be open to trying a few of the Japanese dishes along the way. Why not! Little did I know I was getting myself into a 9-course lunch. I was definitely in store for quite the tasting menu this afternoon.



The meal began with the owan (soup) course from the Japanese menu – a light clear soup with a grilled seabass and winter melon. Very light, delicate, and almost like another amuse.



The owan was followed by JAL’s traditional caviar presentation, which hadn’t changed much since my last JAL F flight in January 2021. JAL uses farmed caviar from Germany served alongside a salmon tatare with an egg yoke mascarpone and potato bilinis. I am by no means a caviar expert (the only time I really eat it is when flying in international first), but I find the quality of the caviar itself to be slightly better on carriers that use the Italian Calvisius (such as on Cathay Pacific and Korean). Nonetheless, JAL’s caviar course was still incredibly enjoyable with the Cristal Champagne. Extra points too for the mother of pearl spoon!




Next was another sampling from the Japanese menu – the mukozuke which is normally the sashimi course. Today, however, it was sea urchin inside rolled roast beef. A unique presentation that somehow worked – even though I don’t think I’ve ever mixed uni with beef before.



Kitahara soon appeared sporting her sommelier pin and suggested I might want to switch my wine for the next course. Frankly, I was happy to continue nursing the Cristal until switching to the Bordeaux with my entrée, but Kitahara insisted that I try the Takaha Sono Pinot Noir with the western starter. I felt bad opening a bottle for just a small glass, but she was absolutely right about the pairing – it worked wonderfully with the BBQ eel and eggplant terrine served with a rhubarb jam.




I was ready for and expecting the steak next, when Hara emerged from the galley with a plate of sea bass. At first I thought she had misunderstood my initial meal order, but she said the steak was currently being cooked and she wanted me to try the sea bass as well. Goodness, how will I make it through this lunch! I politely obliged after taking a photo of the beautifully presented dish (I was beginning to think my photo-taking was just encouraging them to keep serving me food) and finished about half of the sea bass dish. It was light and healthy – everything the rest of this lunch wasn’t!



Finally, the beef tenderloin arrived. It was plated with a pepper stuffed with manchego mashed potatoes and was accompanied by a bowl of poached egg and sukiyaki sauce with black truffle. Truly decadent. While the meat wasn’t nearly as tender as the Japanese wagyu featured on the outbound ANA flight – it was perfectly cooked to medium-rare and worked really well using the sukiyaki/egg sauce for dipping. As originally planned, I switched to the 2014 Chateau Lagrange, which Kitahara remarked was the right choice. It was a splendid pairing indeed.





Looking out the window, we had made good progress northwards in the nearly three hours since takeoff. We were now flying over Hudson Bay and despite it being two days away from summer solstice, the bay was beautifully littered with ice just now beginning to breakup from the long harsh Nunavut winters.



Sticking with the Bordeaux, I asked for a very small sampling of cheese. Fortunately they finally listened to me this time and provided reasonable portion sizes of four different cheeses.



Next, Ito emerged with the matcha green tea cream caramel. I’m a sucker for Japanese and Korean desserts and this one really hit it spot with the rich and unmistakable flavors of matcha and red adzuki bean without being needlessly sweet.



Finally, the three hour lunch came to it’s conclusion with JAL’s interpretation of New York cheesecake. Hara gratuitously added a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I only made it though about half before I had to finally admit defeat.



All-in-all this lunch with absolutely incredible – likely one of the top 5 meals I’ve ever had on a plane. The level of the service, nuance of the presentation, and quality of the food was on par with a Michelin-starred lunch in Paris or Tokyo. Truly it was. I made my way to the galley to thank Hara, Kitahara, and Ito for such an absolutely incredible meal – one that I will not forget for a while. I also ordered a coffee to enjoy while I continued reading. Each month JAL features a different coffee estate, and June’s offering was the “Montecarlos Estate Pacamara 2019” from El Salvador, promising a “crystal-clear acidity, Champagne-like juiciness, and lighthearted, airy sense of exhilaration.” I don’t know about all of that, but it certainly was a nice cup of in-flight joe.

My goal for this flight was to stay awake as long as possible and then take a shorter nap so that I wouldn’t feel quite completely rested upon arriving in Tokyo. The lethargy generated by the massive lunch put a small dent in that plan, and I was starting to feel tired about four-and-a-half hours in as we left continental Canada behind and tracked over the Beaufort Sea.

I ordered a glass of Suntory’s Hibiki Blender’s Choice – which is Suntory’s new and somewhat controversial higher-end no-age-statement Hibiki believed to be roughly a 15 year whisky (not to be confused with the regular no-age-statement Hibiki Harmony that replaced the Hibiki 12). JAL previously featured Hibiki 17 which, incidentally, is what ANA currently features on its non-flagship longhaul routes (saving the absolutely amazing Hibiki 21 for New York, London, and Frankfurt). Given that Suntory discontinued Hibiki 17 almost three years ago, time will only tell how much longer ANA will be able to continue to serve it onboard. Regardless, the Hibiki Blender’s Choice is still an excellent whisky in it’s own regard.



Not too long after receiving the Hibiki, Hara came briskly from the galley pointing at my window shade, that was mostly closed letting just a little bit of light into the cabin. I first I thought I was being reprimanded for failing to close the window shade entirely, but then she said the cockpit had called her about the incredible views outside. In my flying experience, at such a northern latitude it’s almost always cloudy in the summer time (and in the winter it’s always dark). Today, however, was a rare clear day and the views below were simply spectacular.




Ito had already made my bed in the suite across the aisle, and I finally succumbed to my much-awaited nap as we passed abeam Barrow, Alaska. I managed a solid 5 hours of sleep, waking up naturally as we flew alongside Sakhalin Island with about 2 hours remaining to Tokyo. One thing I appreciate about JAL is the their Airweave mattress pad which allows the passenger to select either hard or soft firmness. I always go with the hard side and tend to get a great sleep onboard JAL.

On my way to the lav to freshen up, I noticed a little origami setup the flight attendants had made in the galley using some sea salt. I thought it was a nice touch and just another one of those addition-to-detail things that both Japanese carriers do so well.



About 90 minutes before landing, Hara stopped by to see if I would like something to eat. I was actually still fairly full from lunch, but figured I should eat something knowing the arrivals processing in Tokyo can now take a little while. I asked how large the “New York Original Duck Rice Bowl” was – and Hara said it was far too small to be a meal. It was almost like she was getting paid based on how much she fed me! I asked if I could have the Japanese set plate but with the duck rice instead of the steamed rice. The result was another feast:



I finished with a fresh fruit plate as we were overflying Misawa, Japan – an airport I flew to less three weeks earlier on J-Air – one of JAL’s regional commuter airlines. A bit of aviation trivia regarding Misawa Airport: aside being one of the locations the Imperial Japanese Navy practiced for Pearl Harbor, lesser known was that it was the location where the first nonstop transpacific flight departed in 1931 enroute to Wenatchee, Washington.



I concluded the flight with a couple of glasses of JAL’s Royal Blue Tea “Queen of Blue” tea. Poured from a bottle and served in a wine glass, this tea fashions itself as the Champagne of tea. Featuring hand-picked tea leaves and with an impressive long-lasting finish, I’m thoroughly convinced with the marketing hype and have actually been intending to visit one of Royal Blue Tea’s two boutiques in the Tokyo area.

Just prior to top of descent I changed out of my relaxing wear and stopped by the galley to again thank Hara, Kitahara, and Ito for their fantastic service. Of my 25 flights with JAL – including a 2007 Honolulu-Tokyo flight where I was the only first class passenger in the nose of a 747 – the service I experienced today on JL5 was – without question – the best I experienced onboard JAL. It doesn’t matter how good the hard product, catering, or wine list is – at the end of the day it’s ultimately the onboard service that will truly determine how good one’s flight experience is. Today, these three ladies absolutely crushed it.

Despite the very slightly delayed departure from New York, our very northerly routing allowed us to make up quite a bit of time enroute and we landed into Haneda about 35 minutes ahead of schedule. We quickly made it to the gate, where international connecting passengers were deplaned first followed by passengers terminating in Tokyo (no domestic connections were allowed due to Japan’s current quarantine requirements). After a final series of bows from Hara, Kitahara, and Ito it was back to the realities of the world and work, but I will remember this flight as being my absolute best experience to date on JAL.