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Hong Kong, Macau
#1/2
1962 ~ 1969

Hong Kong in 1962

This photo was taken halfway up the cable car to the peak of Hong Kong Island. You can see the two hotels, the Hilton and the Mandarin, on the left. There were still few high-rise buildings only, and this was Central, the center of Hong Kong in the 1960s, a compact area.

Hong Kong in 1969

The old Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, 1969

My previous visit to Hong Kong in 1962, the approach was from the sea, but this time it was from the air for the first time.

Hong Kong’s Former Kai Tak Airport. Located on the Kowloon Peninsula side, it is said to be one of the most dangerous airports in the world, and for pilots, it was the most difficult airport in the world to land.
The reason for this is that there are mountains over 600 meters at the end of the runway and around it, and southerly winds always force them to make sharp turns when landing from the north.

There was also a six-story apartment complex separated by a road on the north side, and when landing, it was common that the laundry on the roof could be clearly seen.
On top of that, around April, Hong Kong was often foggy with low clouds, and there were times when the plane circled and landed in clouds and couldn’t see anything up to the runway.

Having had such scary experiences so often, when I went on business trips to Hong Kong, I switched exclusively to Cathay Pacific, which is based in Hong Kong. This was to escape the fear of landing as much as possible.

In 1989, a new airport with two runways was built on Lantau Island, and Kai Tak Airport was shut down, and I will never again experience the world’s greatest landing thrill.

Approach to Hong Kong’s Old Kai Tak Airport

Approach to Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Approach to Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Approach to Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Approach to Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Apartment buildings are built in close proximity along the airport runway.

Arrival at Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Japan Airlines (JAL) does not have a “crane mark” (logo) on its vertical stabilizer yet.
The photo shows an JAL airplane before the adoption of the “crane mark logo“.

Hong Kong Old Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Hong Kong Old Kai Tak Airport
Photo by author, 1969

Duty Free Shops in Hong Kong

On the other hand, at that time, Scotch whiskey in England and cognac in France were sold at exorbitant prices due to high tariffs on overseas alcoholic beverages.
As a result, at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport, Japan tourists, including myself, flocked to the liquor duty-free counter like ants and bees.
It was a bizarre sight. I heard that this duty-free shop was started by two Americans, and its initial purpose was to meet the needs of soldiers during the Vietnam War. Little did I know at the time that this company would later expand into Singapore and become my client.

Around 1970, whenever I returned to Japan from Singapore, where I was staying, my flight always stopped over in Hong Kong, and I often had the opportunity to stay in Hong Kong. I would stay at the Hilton Hotel and the Mandarin Hotel, which were in operation at the time, and also visit the hotels, in order to study first-class hotels.

At that time, it was said that there were three major hotels in Hong Kong.

The Peninsula Hotel was located on the Kowloon Peninsula side, and the Hilton Hotel and Mandarin Hotel were located on the Hong Kong Island side, and they were called the “Big Three”.