Although there aren't many "upsides" to studying in such a remote place as Higashi-Hiroshima (our school campus is not actually in Hiroshima city), I was lucky that All Nippon Airways (ANA) scheduled their brand new Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" airplanes for the Tokyo to Hiroshima route. If I am not mistaken, the only other two routes that ANA currently (April 2012) uses their 787s for are the routes from Tokyo to Okayama and Tokyo to Frankfurt, Germany.
Last summer, when I was doing an another internship in Tokyo, I took the plane back to Hiroshima and I was lucky enough that the plane used the "correct runway" so that in going eastbound, the plane flew right over Tokyo in a counter-clockwise direction and I could see the entire city from a bird's eye view. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera that time so I could not get any pictures.
This time I brought out my camera just in case we used that "correct runway" and surely enough we did and the resulting photos are a result of ignoring all the warnings about not using any electronic devices during takeoff!
The Boeing 787 at the gate at Haneda Airport Terminal 2.
Because this plane is configured for international flights, you could even use the personal monitor. Usually for domestic flights in Japan, there are no personal monitors at all.
I took ANA 677 and sat on seat 11A on the left side of the plane.
Taxing to the runway.
A view of Terminal 2.
The famous Pokemon airplane livery that you can only see in Japan.
When I was talking about the "correct runway", that is the runway as shown in the photo. The newest reclaimed land runway at Haneda Airport.
During takeoff, you can see the new Tokyo Gate Bridge which just opened in April 2012 in the distance.
You can really get a sense of how long the Tokyo Gate Bridge is from a bird's eye view!
As we turn in a counter-clockwise direction, I could see Mt. Fuji, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Dome and Tokyo Sky Tree. Unfortunately, on that day, the weather was not completely clear so some things weren't that obvious, but Mt. Fuji was.
A nice central shot of Mt. Fuji.
And at this point we pass over the exact centre of Tokyo as you can see the Imperial Palace, Nippon Budokan, Tokyo Dome, Iidabashi, Meiji Shrine and Shinjuku in the distance.
One last photo of Mt. Fuji.
As the plane heads, eastbound, you can see Haneda Airport, Yokohama before it reaches at altitude where you can't see anything but clouds.
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