As we had failed to get the night-stoppers the previous night, we had to forego our lie-in. However after a very early night, the alarm going off at 0615 still seemed like a lie-in. The roof terrace opened right on 0700, and cost Y50, which you put into a turnstile, you got no re-entry ticket, meaning you had to pay Y50 to get back, every time you went into the terminal. The stands were full of ANA and JAL, with departures starting at 0710. The roof terrace is quite a substantial one, extending almost the entire length of the terminal, although there were areas blocked off, the most notable being the piers which would have given great photo opportunities on the main taxiway. Photographs off the roof are not as great as Nagoya was, with a cluttered foreground, but still very good. The extreme northern end of the roof gives a good view onto the JAS/JAC ramps, and also into the hangar area at the north end of the airfield.

The weather had turned cold, with cloudy skies, and was to get even worse throughout the day, with almost terrential rain by tea-time. There is shelter though, and warmth available at the top of the stairs from the main terminal.

There are no cafes on the roof terrace, and no decent vending machines either, so breakfast, lunch or drinks involved a trip downstairs. There is a multitude of shops and cafes in the terminal, and we ate twice in 'Best Sandwichs from around the World' which did great 'club'-style and BLT sandwiches for Y800, which were also available in take-out boxes.

Traffic was quiet but steady, although again a lot of the ANA's were repeated throughout the day. JAS put in 4 MD.90's during the day, their different colour-schemes providing great interest. The tower frequency here is 118.1.

We decided to leave for Kansai at 1700, and caught the Limousine Bus. Cost was Y17,000 with a journey time published as 1hour 20minutes. However this was obviously peak traffic time, and the poor weather combined to make it a 1hour 45minutes trip. It is extremely impressive though, the whole journey being on elevated expressways, some of which get very high off the ground !. Again it's an awfully long way, or at least it seemed it, the city and docks in particular being vast. Our first sight of Kansai airport, albeit in the dark, was most impressive across the connecting bridge, although nothing was to prepare us for the sight of it in daylight the next morning !.

The terminal itself is stunning, built on four levels which are very tall, and it's good to just have a wander around and amaze at the structure. We were staying at the only hotel on the man-made island, the Nikko-Kansai, which is extremely posh, and consequently expensive. We had to bite the bullet for the next two nights though, as we needed to spot from the hotel window until the observation building opened at 1000 the next two mornings.

Again there was very little to do, so we ate in the terminal, which again has a multitude of small cafes/restaurants. There is a small MacDonalds in the terminal. We opted for the Italian cafe ('it wouldn't be a spotting trip without Pizza !'), and the Japanese version of the delicacy was one of the best I'd ever tasted, cost was Y800 with Y300 each for a couple of glasses of nice warm red wine !.

Another very early night !.

I got 55 new at Itami, which was to be the second best daily total for the five airports we visited, during the whole week. 24 of the Japanese Airliners we logged we were not to see again - 5 ANA 767's, 3 JAS MD.90's, 1 ANK 735, 1 JAS AB3, 1 JAS MD.87, 2 ANK 320's, 2 JAS MD.80's, 2 JAC SF.340's, 4 JAC YS.11's, 1 ANK YS.11, and 3 JAL 734's.

Log - Osaka-Itami - 1/4/98 - 0700-1700

JA002D	MD.90-30	53556	JAS
JA004D	MD.90-30	53558	JAS
JA601A	B.767-381	27943	ANA
JA8004	MD.90-30	53359	JAS
JA8070	MD.90-30	53358	JAS
JA8073	B.747-446	24425	JAL
JA8083	B.747-446D	25213	JAL
JA8084	B.747-446D	25214	JAL
JA8097	B.747-481	25135	ANA
JA8137	B.747SR-81	21923	ANA
JA8139	B.747SR-81	21925	ANA
JA8145	B.747SR-81	22291	ANA
JA8146	B.747SR-81	22292	ANA
JA8147	B.747SR-81	22293	ANA
JA8159	B.747SR-81	22712	ANA
JA8183	B.747-346SR	23967	JAL
JA8184	B.747-346SR	23968	JAL
JA8187	B.747-346SR	24019	JAL
JA8195	B.737-54K	27433	ANK
JA8236	B.767-346	23215	JAL
JA8251	B.767-281	23431	ANA
JA8256	B.767-381	23756	ANA
JA8258	B.767-381	23758	ANA
JA8261	MD.81	49462	JAS
JA8271	B.767-381	24002	ANA
JA8273	B.767-381	24004	ANA
JA8281	MD.87	49467	JAS
JA8285	B.767-381	24350	ANA
JA8293	A.300B4-203	0194	JAS
JA8296	MD.81	49907	JAS
JA8300	A.320-232	0549	ANA
JA8324	B.767-381	25655	ANA
JA8359	B.767-381	25617	ANA
JA8360	B.767-381	25055	ANA
JA8363	B.767-381	24756	ANA
JA8369	A.300B4-203	0239	JAS
JA8371	MD.87	53040	JAS
JA8373	MD.87	53042	JAS
JA8383	A.320-211	0148	ANA
JA8389	A.320-211	0219	ANK
JA8390	A.320-211	0245	ANK
JA8391	A.320-211	0300	ANK
JA8496	MD.82	49280	JAS
JA8497	MD.81	49281	JAS
JA8499	MD.81	49283	JAS
JA8523	B.737-4Q3	26603	JTA
JA8556	MD.81	53301	JAS
JA8565	A.300B4-622R	0711	JAS
JA8569	B.767-381	27050	ANA
JA8578	B.767-381	25658	ANA
JA8596	B.737-54K	28462	ANK
JA8642	SF.340B	365	JAC
JA8657	A.300B4-622R	0753	JAS
JA8669	B.767-381	27444	ANA
JA8670	B.767-381	25660	ANA
JA8768	YS.11A-222	2147	JAC
JA8771	YS.11A-227	2149	JAC
JA8772	YS.11A-223	2146	ANK
JA8781	YS.11A-217	2166	JAC
JA8788	YS.11A-217	2176	JAC
JA8887	SF.340B	308	JAC
JA8888	SF.340B	331	JAC
JA8904	B.747-446D	26348	JAL
JA8967	B.777-281	27030	ANA
JA8968	B.777-222	27031	ANA
JA8986	B.767-346	28838	JAL
JA8992	B.737-446	27917	JAL
JA8993	B.737-446	28087	JAL
JA8995	B.737-446	28831	JAL