Points of Departure: New Chitose Airport

Every year, 16 million people pass through Sapporo's New Chitose Airport, on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido. In spring, many dramas of greeting and parting play out as people come and go between the great expanses of the north and the megalopolis of Tokyo to the south. A surprise sendoff for a friend leaving to go to school in Tokyo. Tears flowing at the first big family reunion in 20 years. A foreign student's dreams for the future. It is a season of major life transitions.