Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport wants to help bring travelers to a part of Japan that could use more visitors.

For domestic flights, the standard recommendation is to get to the airport an hour ahead of your scheduled takeoff so that you have ample time to get through any check-in, baggage-check, and security protocols, plus make your way to your gate for boarding. However, even though Japan’s Noto Satoyama Airport only has domestic routes, we strongly encourage travelers give themselves much more than 60 minutes before takeoff. This isn’t because Noto Satoyama is inefficiently run, though. No, the reason you’ll want to get there very early is because it’s Japan’s first-ever Pokémon airport.

As of July 7, Noto Satoyama Airport, located on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, is now Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport. The most dramatic part of the new theming is the gigantic Pikachu in the main atrium which is surrounded by illustrations of other Pocket Monsters. Take the time to count them, and you’ll tally up 111 different Pokémon varieties, with at least one representative of every Flying-type species since the franchise began 30 years ago.

▼ The first day of operations under the Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport name

In addition to the atrium, Pokémon can be found in various common-use section of the airport, including three spots outside the building with Pokémon statues. “Capture” them using your smartphone’s camera, and you can watch a special short animated video.

The airport is also the proud home of Japan’s newest Pokémon manhole cover/Pokéfuta, this one showing Bagon and its evolved form Salamence taking off from the facility.

Annon, the airport’s restaurant, is also now serving a Pokémon-themed pancake dessert set…

…and a gorgeous piece of key art has been created not only to celebrate the collaboration…

…but also to serve as a motif for exclusive Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport merch being offered in the airport’s souvenir shops.

As mentioned above, Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport doesn’t have any international flights, but it does have a route connecting it with Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, and flying is often the quickest way to get from the capital to this part of Ishikawa Prefecture.

The collaboration is part of the continuing partnership between Ishikawa and the Pokémon franchise to promote tourism to the Noto Peninsula, which is still recovering economically from the effects of a powerful earthquake that occurred in 2024, but is now more than ready to start receiving visitors again. Other parts of the initiative include the Pokémon hot spring footbath in Ishikawa’s Wakura Onsen district.

Like the Pokémon mailboxes in Yokohama, though, the Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport won’t be a permanent theming, but Pikachu and all those Flying types are currently scheduled to be there until at least the end of September 2029.

Related: Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport official website
Source: Pokémon with You, Burari Noto Net, Pokéfuta official website
Top image: Pokémon with You
Insert images: Pokémon with You, Pokéfuta official website
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!