The cleanliness and beauty of Haneda airport, that is applauded by the world, is the result of the “care” that people in Japan have. Haneda airport is the entrance to Japan where the highest amounts of guests arrive and leave. In 2015, as many as 55.31million people used the airport, and it was crowned as the No.1 in Japan in terms of the number of passengers. The airport is as large as 310 Tokyo Domes and the busiest in Japan, where 80 planes arrive and take off per hour. An airport that busy and that so many people use was selected as the “most beautiful airport in the world” in 2015. Haneda airport has been crowned with this title for 3 consecutive years since 2013. This ranking is published by SKYTRAX, a U.K.–based consultancy, which runs the world’s largest airline and airport review and ranking site. Haneda airport was not only ranked as the most beautiful airport in the world, but also the best in the overall rankings for domestic line airports based on its convenient domestic terminals. The world-class beauty of Haneda airport is supported by the extreme care of the people in Japan.

There is about 300 cleaning staff at Haneda airport. They do the cleaning and inspect the facilities early in the morning and walk around maintaining the cleanliness of the airport during business hours. The cleaning team trainer, Ms. Haruko Niitsu always remembers to have kindness while cleaning. Kindness to herself, kindness to others and kindness to the things she cleans. She thinks that the goal of cleaning is not only about wiping off the dirt, but also maintaining the materials in a healthy state for as long as possible. So she even pays attention to the cleaning chemicals, and whether they are going to damage the material she is about to clean, along with ensuring that even the hard to see places are thoroughly cleaned. Ms. Niitsu’s philosophy, “cleaning with kindness” has been passed onto her trainees. The cleaning staff never forgets to say “Hello” or “Have a nice flight” to the airport users entering into the bathrooms. Even this small but kind act makes people feel comfortable and encourages them to be a part of making effort to make the airport comfortable place.

The beauty of Haneda airport is not created only by its cleaning staff. It is essential that the users of the airport have good manners to stay on top of the world rankings. For example, recently it has become a normal sight where a mother with small children reports to the airport staff immediately if her children spill a drink or some food. This symbolizes that the people consider that Haneda airport’s normal state is “clean” so it is important to act to maintain it if you make a mess. Clean and beautiful, this is the standard of Haneda airport. This high standard and people’s ongoing care to maintain it creates “the most beautiful airport in the world.”