Are you a film photographer planning on flying in Japan? Common sense advice may not be enough to get you through airport security. Here’s how to save your film and prevent frustrations.
Common guidelines for passing film through airport security
You may already be following solid, common sense guidelines for traveling with your film:
- Don’t leave any undeveloped film in your check-in luggage. This luggage gets scanned using CT scanners which completely ruin film.
- Ask for hand inspections of your film gear at security checkpoints. Common x-ray scanners may not harm low ISO film, but more modern CT scanners do.
This advice will serve you well, until it doesn’t.
Airport security will waste your film
Here are a few times I passed through airport security with a film camera in Japan.
Peach Airlines. I asked for a hand check of a Canon AE-1 loaded with film. The security staff had a look at the camera and let me pass. Great.
Next, Japan Airlines (JAL). I asked for a hand inspection of my Konica Lexio 70 loaded with film. The staff asked me to turn the flash on, point the camera at the floor, and take a picture. I told the staff this is a waste of film and asked if there’s any other way. They said no. I could choose to take a photo or pass my film through their scanners. I opted to take a photo.
Once again, a JAL flight, same camera, during a hand inspection. The security staff asked me to open the camera and show him the film. I said that would ruin the film because film is sensitive to light. So he asked me to take a picture instead. Once again I said that is a waste of film, since there’s a limited amount of film in the camera. He looked confused, forced me to take a photo, and waved me by.
Frustrated, I checked the airport and Japan Airlines website for any guidelines regarding film cameras just in case I missed something. Nope. Nothing.
One more time with JAL in the same situation. We argued for a few minutes. I complained that the website had no information about this, and there was no signage explaining this. I explained how film costs money to purchase and develop. In the end, I was forced to take another floor photo and waved by.
Contacting Japan Airlines about their security policies
I contacted the airport’s support center. The representative told me that they do not handle security. The airline does. So, I got a hold of Japan Airlines. I described my experiences and explained the cost of purchasing and developing film.
After a long conversation, they apologized for the bad experiences and the lack of information on their website. They did not offer any compensation or goodwill gestures for all the wasted film or lack of information.
Instead, the JAL representative reached out to the security company for their inspection guidelines. Here they are, as of December 11, 2024.
When film is loaded in the camera
- For each camera, you will be asked to press the shutter once. (The flash will not be used.)
- If a used roll of film is loaded in the camera, you may be asked to press the shutter with the flash activated for confirmation.
- Depending on the situation, you may be asked to press the shutter multiple times.
When the film is unopened in its box
- If the film is unopened and still in its box, it will be visually inspected.
- If the film is out of the box but in a clear case, it will also be visually inspected (since the contents are visible).
- If the film is in a black case, each roll will be removed and visually inspected one by one.
The idea that a film camera can be inspected by watching the owner take a photo is laughable. This is just airport security theater in the absence of knowledge about film cameras. It’s also just a bad customer experience and waste of film.
The best way to get your film camera through airport security in Japan
The most important thing to do is leave your film camera unloaded.
Pass your empty camera through the security scanners to prevent untrained security staff from touching it. Of course, get your film hand inspected.
If there’s film already loaded into your camera, you’re probably going to be forced to take at least one picture of the floor.