Layover in Tokyo? Go Strawberry Picking at Narita Airport's JAL Agriport

28.06.2024 - 11:29 / cntraveler.com

This article is part of our airport food survival guide, which includes tips and tricks—even a hot take or two—that challenge the notion that airport meals are always dull, overpriced, and tasteless.

Traveling to and from various parts of Asia over the years, I’ve spent my fair share of time in the Narita International Airport—but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered the very best way to spend a once-dreaded layover in the Tokyo hub.

Located just three miles away across the airport runway is the JAL Agriport: a 10-acre farm managed by Japan Airlines that's home to lush fields and greenhouses growing seasonal fruits and vegetables the airline serves as in-flight meals. Depending on the growing season, visitors can harvest grapes in the fall, pick strawberries winter through spring, and dig potatoes in the summer (fliers arriving in, or traveling through, Narita airport can book the experience by making a reservation online).

When I toured JAL Agriport last May, it was near the end of strawberry-growing season; according to the guide, the past five months had been some of their busiest in terms of guests since the farm started receiving them in 2020. It only takes one look at these perfect red-and-pink berries to understand why. They look—and, I would soon learn, taste—incredibly juicy.

As I entered the greenhouse, the guide explained that 300 species of strawberries are grown in Japan, and the Agriport plants and harvests eight of them. And there they were: Wildly (yet somehow neatly) sprouting out of rows and rows of white planters, a flurry of green vines punctuated by flashes of red and pink, the air subtly perfumed with a mild sweetness.

For about 1,900 Yen (about $12 right now), you can eat all the strawberries you want in a 30-minute, supermarket-sweep-style picking spree. But these are not your run-of-the-mill grocery-store berries; they are the same fancy fruits JAL serves to first- and business-class passengers in an array of in-flight desserts and jams.

I took my time walking up and down the corridors of planters, carefully inspecting each fruit to find the best looking ones to pluck, filling my small bag to the brim. I was immediately drawn to the Beni Hoppes, which are among Japan’s largest strawberry species. They taste a bit more acidic, so if you like your berries a little bit sour, these are the ones you want to stock up on. Tochiotome strawberries, said to be the very first species in the country, are also quite popular, as they look and taste like “classic” strawberries: dark red, and a good balance of sweet and sour. There’s also Yotsuboshi, my personal favorite, a newly developed hybrid that tastes bright and fresh, almost like a strawberry drink.

Getting to the Agriport