The New Chitose Airport is the aerial gateway to Hokkaido and is the largest airport in Hokkaido, welcoming countless tourists annually.
This airport is so well-equipped with dining facilities, gift shops, entertainment, and relaxation facilities that it is hard to believe it is an airport! Here are some especially recommended spots in New Chitose Airport for your next visit.
Check Out Part 1: (Shopping & Gourmet) A Close Look at the New Chitose Airport Terminal Building
A complete entertainment facility! Smile Road on the 3rd-floor connection area
Smile Road is the corridor that runs between the Gourmet World on the third floor of the New Chitose Airport Domestic Terminal with the International Terminal.
Along this long corridor, several facilities offer a wide range of entertainment for all age groups, such as Doraemon Wakuwaku Sky Park and Hello Kitty Happy Flight. Royce’ Chocolate World is very popular with children and tourists and a place we recommend you visit.
Smile Road (3F Connecting Path): Royce’ Chocolate World
The colorful shop offers a wide selection of gifts and other items that can only be purchased here.
Shortly after entering Smile Road after leaving the New Chitose Domestic Terminal, you will be in the Sweets Zone.
In addition to a Starbucks there is a Castella cake shop and ice cream shop, and beyond them, Royce’ Chocolate World. (The shop and museum are open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, the factory is open from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and the bakery is open from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Admission is free.)
Here you can find a selection of original products as well as a museum showing the history of chocolate. You can also observe chocolate being made in the factory on the other side of a glass partition. The bakery serves freshly baked products.
The museum displays a valuable collection of chocolate and cocoa canisters from around the world and also a history of chocolate. Perhaps here you’ll learn something about chocolate you never knew before!
Adults and children alike will be transfixed watching the process in which chocolate is made into its various forms. In the bakery, renovated in 2018, the nama chocolate croissant (270 yen) is very popular.
Other original products are also displayed, such as the cute Royce' Pop Chocolate (184 yen each) that are in the motif of animals and the Royce' Flower Chocolate in the motif of flowers found in Hokkaido (465 yen for a box of 12).
The factory behind the glass partition where you can watch chocolate being made
A wide selection of original Royce' bread products
Royce' Pop Chocolate (184 yen each) use animals of Hokkaido for motifs – as delicious as they are cute!
Royce' Chocolate World: Japan's New Chitose Airport Has a Crazy Good Chocolate Factory
Here are a few more enjoyable facilities you should visit in the New Chitose Airport.
New Chitose Domestic Terminal 3F: Food Court / Air Museum
The Air Museum (admission free; open 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM) is next to the food court on the third floor of the New Chitose Domestic Terminal. Here you can experience first-hand what flying is all about through a real flight simulator.
There is also a corner for children where they can try on flight attendant and pilot uniforms for having their picture taken. There are also panels displaying the large tires, engines, and other parts of airplanes. There is also a display of model airplanes that…