JAL's Tunku Tuku Jet Enters Service Ahead of Yokohama's GREEN×EXPO 2027

Japan Airlines put its first GREEN×EXPO 2027-liveried Boeing 737-800 into revenue service on Saturday, November 7, flying as JL231 from Tokyo Haneda to Okayama. The aircraft, registered JA344J, carries the expo's official mascot, TunkuTunku, and will stay on JAL's domestic 737-800 routes until around September 2027.

The expo — officially the International Horticultural Expo 2027, branded GREEN×EXPO 2027 — opens on March 19, 2027, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. That gives JAL roughly 16 months of flying before the gates open, and about six months of exposure after, before the special livery rides off schedule.

The cabin configuration is unchanged from JAL's standard narrowbody layout: 165 seats, split between 20 in Class J and 145 in Economy. This is a marketing wrap, not a product change. The onboard tie-ins run accordingly — drinks come in paper cups printed with the expo design, and from November the inflight entertainment system will carry two official promotional videos for the event: a beginner's guide and a quiz.

How did JAL unveil it?

The airline revealed the aircraft a day before entry into service, on November 6, with a hangar ceremony produced by fashion designer Junko Koshino, who received Japan's Order of Culture in 2023. JAL built a runway inside the hangar, and 37 JAL Group employees — among them athletes the airline employs — walked it wearing outfits inspired by flowers and greenery.

Koshino's expo credentials run deep. She has worked on national projects since the 1970 Osaka Expo, served as a senior advisor for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, and oversaw the uniforms for its operating staff. JAL frames the collaboration as a promotion of the expo's stated themes: living in harmony with nature and building a sustainable future.

"While there are countless flowers and plants across the globe that remain unknown, may GREEN×EXPO 2027 serve as the origin of international friendship and exchange through the world's flowers and greenery," Koshino said.

Will travelers outside Japan see it?

Probably. JAL plans a second TunkuTunku jet, this one assigned to international routes, which means travelers outside Japan may spot the mascot livery before the expo opens next spring. The airline has not yet specified which aircraft type will carry the second scheme.

Full details of the aircraft and the broader expo campaign sit on JAL's dedicated "Fly to GREEN×EXPO 2027 with JAL" website — in Japanese only, for now, which suggests the initial marketing push targets the domestic audience that will fill most expo visits.

The strategy follows a familiar Japanese-carrier playbook: tie a special livery to a national event, fly it on high-frequency domestic trunk routes where it earns daily impressions, then widen the reach internationally as the opening date approaches. With the second jet still to be detailed and the expo 16 months out, expect JAL's expo campaign to build in stages through 2026.