JAPAN AIR LINES -- Here's Your Cigarettes. Smoke as Much as You Want. There's Plenty More Where They Came From !

JAPAN AIR LINES -- Here's Your Cigarettes. Smoke as Much as You Want. There's Plenty More Where They Came From !, a photo by Okinawa Soba on Flickr.

Wow, what a treasue. Only you, my friend, could come up with such excellent photographs. Thank you so much for making it possible to remember flying to Japan in the OK TO SMOKE ERA.....

My flight, A Pan American 707, departed San Francisco in August of 1961. Within ten minutes I was smoking my pipe.

We stopped in Hawaii for a half an hour to refuel. Shortly after leaving Hawaii, the stewardess were beautifully clad in kimonos and were passing complimentary Suntory drinks and Ashai or Sapporo beer.

It was the first of many, many Suntorys and Sapporos. It was the flight of my life, one I would not have wanted to miss. Whenever I get bored, all I have to do is recall that flight to the adventure of a lifetime.

Thank you for your ability to share. Thank for making your photos available to those who have such fond and special memories of Japan. It is good that you have posted these rare airline photos.

Your Flickr Photostream on and about Japan is a collection that defines the essence of Japan. Your collection ranks among the very best available on the subject of Japan through period photographs. Your writing and historical information is not only educational, it is most entertaining. Thank you, Robert.