Even though your time in Japan is coming to a close, there’s still a chance to savour that final bowl of ramen before you go. Travellers flying with ANA or any Star Alliance partner from Tokyo can unwind in the ANA Business Class Lounge, the perfect spot to relax before your flight.

With a tempting array of hot and cold dishes, spacious seating, shower rooms, and more, this lounge is designed to refresh and recharge you – but it’s definitely a case of function over form.

Lounge location and layout

Opening hours

ANA offers two Business Class lounges at Tokyo-Narita. The smaller lounge, which operates only in the afternoon, is located in Satellite No. 2. The main lounge – this one that you’re reading about – is situated in Satellite No. 5, near Gates 51 and beyond.

Open daily from 7 am until the last ANA departure, the lounge is easily accessible after immigration. Just head left, walk down the corridor and take the escalator up. On the left, you’ll find the main Business Class lounge. To your right, the exclusive ANA Suite Lounge awaits those flying in First Class or with Diamond or Million Miler cards.

Welcome to the ANA Lounge in Satellite No. 5.
This wing of the airport is eerily quiet on this morning.

Lounge layout

In my opinion, this lounge’s biggest shortcoming is its appearance, which can be described as utilitarian. That’s not to say it’s aging or poorly designed, but there’s not much ‘soul’ in having row upon row of the same brown seats.

Looks aside, the rest of the lounge happily ticks most of the boxes for passengers. Immediately as you walk in, the main buffet and noodle bar are on the right, with lots of seating directly in front. The desk area is probably the best if you want to eat and work simultaneously. Otherwise, there’s regular couch seating behind that.

While most passengers are congregated here, you could walk to your left and explore more. There’s a second satellite space with another buffet and drinks section. During my morning visit, this area is almost deserted, so you’ll have plenty of privacy. There’s no food set up here (you’ll need to head back for that), but the bar fridges are fully stocked.

Two by two: most of the seats in the lounge adopt this layout and colour.
Most of the lounge replicates the same seating arrangement.
These shared desks are best for work.
Meanwhile, the armchairs are great for relaxing.
The second part of the lounge is virtually empty.
At the back are some nap pods.

At the back of this satellite space is a small resting area with a few cubicles and recliner chairs. With deep wear marks, these seats have seen better days, but it’s still a nice area to relax if you need to catch up on a nap.

Toilets are located inside the lounge. Shower rooms are positioned outside, adjacent to the reception desk.

Lounge food and beverage

Although the lounge serves breakfast during my visit, there are still many choices. In typical Japanese fashion, these include steamed rice and curry, rice balls, made-to-order noodles and more.

See the sample menu for this lounge:

This is a sample menu of the ANA Lounge from October 2024. For the latest menus, visit this page.

ANA Lounge food

At the buffet, highlights include a Spanish omelette, fried noodles with Taiwanese-style pork, and the aforementioned ANA Original chicken curry with rice precisely portioned by a machine. If your tastes skew more Western, your options are limited to dishes such as pork sausages, plus ham and cheese or vegetable sandwiches.

Spanish omelette for breakfast.
Pork sausages and roasted vegetables round out the hot Western options.
Taiwanese-style fried noodles with beef.
Choose how much rice you want with a touch.
But help yourself to a generous scoop of curry.
Some of the cold options at the buffet.

At each table is a QR code, which you can use to order a freshly made bowl of noodles. Options range from soba with deep-fried tofu to udon with kakiage tempura. The only non-vegetarian option is ramen noodles with pork broth – a warming and appetising choice. It’s quite a small serving, but that works as it gives you more flexibility with dining.

The website does ask for a mobile number when ordering, so you can receive an SMS update on when your bowl is ready. But if you can’t receive those overseas, just head to the Noodle Bar after 5-10 minutes to check.

A steaming bowl of pork ramen from the Noodle Bar.
My self-assembled delicious plate of ANA Original curry and rice.
Order from the Noodle Bar on your own device.

ANA Lounge drinks

ANA’s drink selection is quite comprehensive for a Business Class Lounge. Of course, there are the iconic Asahi automatic beer dispensers, which are rather popular even in the morning.

Continuing with the theme of ‘it’s always 5pm somewhere’, the bar also stocks sake, shochu, Suntory World Whiskey, and a range of standard spirits. The Spanish red and white wines are ANA’s ‘house specials’ and garner reasonable reviews on Vivino – though I’m dubious of the red being stored with a spirit pourer on the bottle!

A shot of sake never goes astray.
The lounge’s sparkling wine hails from France.
Enjoy a frothy Asahi beer from the dispenser.
A decent range of spirits is available at all hours.
Some of the chilled options in the fridge.
Soft drinks are available through this dispenser.
Help yourself to coffee from a machine.
The selection of tea is quite decent.

For non-alcoholic options, help yourself to chilled green tea, orange juice, still and sparkling water, Pepsi, Pepsi Zero, tonic water and ginger ale from the dispensers. There’s also a coffee machine and a wide range of tea bags if you prefer something hot.

Lounge amenities

Unsurprisingly for a Japanese airline, the ANA Lounge is business traveller-forward. There are plenty of shared working desks and local power ports (so bring your own adapter). However, USB ports are largely absent. Wi-Fi is reasonably zippy at 27 Mbps down and 3.5 Mbps up. If you need to take a call, use the booths in the middle of the lounge.

I’m pretty impressed with the shower system. The ticket machine in the lounge estimates the wait time and gives you a number. In the morning, there’s no queue at all.

Freshen up with Kose amenities.
A fan and a Dyson hairdryer are available to use.
The fan keeps this shower room cool.
Reserve a shower via the kiosk.
Charge up, but BYO adapter.

Inside the shower rooms, three distinct features make this otherwise ordinary space stand out. First, a portable fan – simple yet brilliant! I’ve previously written in my Japan Airlines First Class Lounge review that a steamy, poorly ventilated room defeats the point of a shower, so I’m glad this isn’t an issue here.

Next is a Dyson hairdryer, which is an excellent touch. Finally, a trio of skincare products from the Japanese brand Kose. I don’t know much about cosmetics, but I do know this brand was frequently out of stock in South Korea when I attempted to buy some for my partner. So clearly, they’re doing something right, right?

Who can access this lounge?

Here’s the list of who can access the ANA Lounge:

  • By class of travel: Premium Economy and Business Class passengers departing on ANA (no guest). Business Class passengers departing on Star Alliance and selected partner airlines (no guest).
    • First Class passengers of ANA and Star Alliance partners can technically access this lounge, but they should go to the ANA Suite Lounge instead (one guest).
  • By frequent flyer status: ANA Platinum Service and Super Flyer members (one guest).
    • Diamond Service and Million Miler members can technically access this lounge, but they should go to the ANA Suite Lounge instead (one guest).
  • By alliance status: Star Alliance Gold-equivalent members from partner airlines when flying on ANA or another Star Alliance carrier (one guest).
  • By partner airline status: Other selected partner airline Gold members and higher depending on the agreement (e.g. Etihad Gold and Platinum members when flying ANA on an EY flight code). Unfortunately, there is no access with Velocity status.
  • By paid entry: ANA Economy passengers flying on fare class Y/B/M/U/H/Q/V/W/S can pre-purchase access online for JPY 8,000 (~A$82). ANA Economy passengers flying on fare class L/K/X can only purchase access at the counter for JPY 12,000 (~A$122).

Book a Business Reward on ANA from Tokyo-Narita to Perth for 78,000 Velocity Points + fees and taxes (availability is very limited, but more seats are sometimes released around two weeks before departure).

Our verdict: ANA Lounge

The ANA Business Class Lounge is more geared towards passengers wrapping up a work trip than to those enjoying the last day of their holiday. But despite the rather unimaginative layout, the lounge still delivers on the important things, including food, beverages, and amenities.

It’s a quiet and relaxing space that ANA’s passengers, including those in Premium Economy, will likely appreciate. I only wish that the agreement between ANA and Virgin Australia included lounge access for Velocity Gold members and higher flying ANA, as reciprocal lounge access should be a significant cornerstone of a frequent flyer partnership.

And just like that, it’s time to head home with ANA.

Photography by Brandon Loo, who travelled as a guest of ANA and JNTO. All opinions remain his own.


Stay up to date with the latest news, reviews and guides by subscribing to Point Hacks’ email newsletter.

ANA Lounge (Business Class), Tokyo-Narita was last modified: December 2nd, 2024 by Brandon Loo