Other posts on the flight from Newark, NJ to Phuket, Thailand and return to Boston, MA.:

Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-300ER Newark, NJ (EWR) to Hong Kong, SAR China (HKG)

Japan Airlines Business Class 787-8 Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT)

I had almost three hours in NRT before the fight to Boston (BOS).  Although I was flying business class to Boston my  American Airlines Executive Platinum status grants access to the Japan Airlines First Class Lounge rather than the Sakura Lounge for business-class passengers.

Japan Airlines has two (actually 2.5) first-class lounges at NRT.  Since my flight to Boston departed from Gate 63, I stopped at the lounge in the Main Building near gate 61.

Last year I reviewed this lounge and the First Class Lounge in the Satellite Building. Rather than repeat a full blown review, I’m adding a link to those reviews and adding a few photos from the current visit.

Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita – Main Building

Japan Airlines First Class Lounge -Tokyo Narita Satellite Building

 

These are excellent first class lounges.  The lounge in the Main Building has free massages, good beverages, sushi chefs, a sake bar, good tarmac views, and excellent buffet food. Here’s a lounge diagram.

With less than two hours in the lounge, I wanted to squeeze in a massage and a shower before the long flight to BOS.

The lounge was fairly busy when I entered.  

I went directly to the person who schedules showers and massages.  As expected, there was a waiting list.  The attendant put my name on both lists and scheduled an appointment for a massage.  She also gave me a pager to announce when one of the showers was available.

I decided to forego the 10-minute massage in favor of more time freshening up in the shower, sampling the food and beverages, and computer time.

When the pager alarmed I went to the spa area and was given the key to one of the showers. Even when flying first class or business class I always appreciate the relaxing effect that a shower provides before a long flight.

The showers have a closet for hanging clothes not just pegs on a wall.

There is a stool and bench to make it easy to get in and out of your clothes.

The toilet is high tech of course, although not as fancy as the ones in the Delta Skyclub at NRT.

I was able to brush teeth and have a shave before the shower.  A hair dryer was available to help dry off.

The shower had body jets as well as handheld and rain shower shower heads.

Yes, that’s immodest me reflected in the shower control knob.

After an enjoyable shower, I had a shoe shine and a little more food before heading to the gate.

Overall Impression

The lounge was more crowded than I’ve seen on my other visits but nothing like the Centurion lounges have become.  I could have had a massage as well as a shower and shoe shine in the two-hour visit.

The food, beverages and service from the Japan Airlines representatives are first class and the furniture and decor are comfortable and relaxing.  I especially like the sushi and sake bars.  While these lounges lack some of the “over the top” luxuries of the Ethiad and Cathay Pacific hub lounges, I find them to be clearly superior to the usual business class international lounges.