Tokyo International Airport — Haneda (HND) — Airport Guide 2026

🏢 Terminals & the JAL / ANA Split

Haneda runs three passenger terminals and the division is straightforward once you know it. Terminal 1 is Japan Airlines’ domestic base. Terminal 2 is All Nippon Airways’ domestic base and handles a portion of ANA’s international departures. Terminal 3 handles most international flying and is the only terminal open 24 hours — worth knowing if your flight lands at 02:00.

JAL flies international out of T3 and domestic out of T1. ANA splits its international between T2 and T3, and runs domestic from T2. Connecting from an international arrival to a domestic onward flight usually means moving between T3 and T1 or T2. The terminals are linked by a free shuttle bus; T1 and T2 also have an underground walkway. A terminal change is not instant — check your boarding pass and build margin into any tight connection.

From January 2026, JAL began a phased renovation of its domestic lounges and its First Class and Global Club check-in and security area at Terminal 1. If you are flying JAL domestic out of T1, expect some facilities to be in transition through 2026.

🛂 Border & Visa

Entry to Japan runs on Japan’s own immigration system. Two routes cover almost every foreign traveller, and one widely-circulated claim about a third is wrong.

✅ Visa Exemption for Short Stays

Around 70 countries and regions qualify for visa-free entry on an ordinary passport. For the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and EU member states, that means up to 90 days for tourism or business with no advance paperwork beyond a valid passport. You are admitted on arrival — fingerprinted and photographed at immigration — and that is the full process. Confirm your own nationality’s terms against Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs list before booking, since exemption lengths vary by country.

📋 When You Need a Visa

If your nationality is not on the exemption list, or you are coming to work, study, or stay beyond the exemption window, you need a Japanese visa arranged before you fly. Japan has been expanding an eVisa system for eligible nationalities, applied for online in advance; others go through a Japanese embassy, consulate, or accredited agency. There is no general tourist visa-on-arrival at Haneda.

🚆 Getting Into the City

At roughly 20 km out, every option below is short by major-airport standards. The choice comes down to which part of the city you are heading to and what you are willing to pay.

The Keikyu’s practical advantage is that Asakusa corridor. Certain rapid services carry on from Shinagawa directly into the city without requiring a transfer. If your hotel is on the Asakusa or Toei Asakusa axis, this line is the obvious call.

🚌 Limousine Bus

The Airport Limousine Bus runs to fixed hotel and station points across the city. Shinjuku is around ¥1,400 and about 45 minutes; Tokyo Station is around ¥1,200 — both as of May 2026, verify current fares at the ground-transport desk on arrival. The bus shares road traffic, so timing is less predictable than the train, but it deposits you closer to a specific hotel without a platform change. Late-night services from Terminal 3 toward Shinjuku and Ikebukuro run between roughly midnight and 05:00 when trains have stopped.

🚕 Taxi

Metered from the official rank outside the terminal. The door-to-door option for after the trains stop or with heavy luggage. Considerably pricier than the train and subject to traffic conditions.

🛋️ Lounges

The contract lounges sit airside in Terminal 3’s international departures area on 4F, and in Terminal 2. Priority Pass and DragonPass do not automatically cover every lounge — worth confirming the specific pairing against your card’s lounge list before travel.

Sky Lounge South sits on the same floor — quieter, lighter, soft drinks and light snacks with paid alcohol, also open 24 hours and on Priority Pass. In Terminal 2, Power Lounge Premium (3F, after security, international departures) joined the Priority Pass network; it runs daily from about 06:30 to 00:30, with a three-hour cap for international departures.

LoungeKey coverage varies by lounge and by card issuer — confirm against your own card’s lounge list rather than assuming airport-wide access. If you are flying business or first class on JAL or ANA, your boarding pass admits you to that carrier’s own lounge independent of any card.

🍜 Food Before You Fly

Haneda takes its food more seriously than most large hub airports bother to. Terminal 3’s landside floors include a recreated Edo-era market street of restaurants and stalls, and the terminals carry a deep run of ramen, sushi, tempura, tonkatsu, soba, and udon counters that hold up against what you would find in the city.

The practical point: eat before you clear immigration and security. Landside prices and selection are the reason to be there. Airside is serviceable; landside is the actual offer. If time is short, a standing soba counter or a gyudon (beef-bowl) chain does the job in a few minutes. With more time, a proper ramen bowl or sushi at a sit-down counter rather than a conveyor is a reasonable use of it.

International departures carry the standard duty-free run of liquor, tobacco, and perfume, plus a solid souvenir wall — boxed Tokyo banana cakes, matcha sweets, regional KitKat flavours, and omiyage gift boxes that Japanese travellers buy in quantity before boarding. Japanese whisky is the one category worth comparing against city department-store basement prices before you commit; airport pricing is not the automatic bargain the display suggests.

💡 Layover Reality

This is where Haneda’s 20 km position actually changes the calculation against Narita, which cannot offer the same window from 60-odd km out and an hour-plus express.

The arithmetic to respect: clearing immigration, collecting bags, walking to the station, riding in, spending time somewhere, riding back, and allowing a two-hour international re-check-and-security buffer. The train each way is 15–40 minutes depending on line and destination, but the immigration queue, the return journey, and that buffer add up. Budget the round trip honestly before you commit to leaving the terminal.

Shibuya, with its scramble crossing, needs a transfer: Keikyu to Shinagawa then JR Yamanote, or Monorail to Hamamatsucho then JR, around 30–40 minutes each way. On 5–6 hours it works. The Imperial Palace grounds and central sights cluster near Tokyo Station on the Monorail–JR route in a similar window. Between roughly 4 and 5 hours it is a close call. Under 4, stay in the terminal.

🔧 Practical Notes

Payment. Japan’s transport runs cleanly on IC transit cards — Suica or Pasmo, loadable at station kiosks, accepted on trains, buses, and at most convenience stores. Carry some cash (¥): smaller restaurants, temple entrance fees, and market stalls can still be cash-only.

Connectivity. Japan does not block Western apps, so your usual services work over any connection. Free airport Wi-Fi is available in the terminals. For the city, a travel eSIM or a pocket Wi-Fi rented at the airport provides reliable data — useful when navigating Tokyo’s rail network, which rewards a maps app.

Currency exchange. Terminal 3 has 24-hour exchange counters (Mizuho Bank and Travelex, on both the arrivals and departures floors) and Seven Bank ATMs that accept overseas-issued cards in multiple languages. Seven Bank ATMs are the reliable method — not every Japanese ATM takes foreign cards. Exchange counter rates carry the standard markup; use an ATM withdrawal or card payment for the bulk of your spend and change only what you need immediately in cash.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📊 At a glance — HND 2026