Monbetsu Airport — Monbetsu, Japan

MBE identifies Monbetsu Airport, also called Okhotsk-Monbetsu Airport, on the northern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. It gives the remote Okhotsk subprefecture, known for its drift ice, fishing industry, and scallop farming, a domestic air link to Sapporo's New Chitose Airport that saves travelers a long drive across northern Hokkaido. Winter weather is a defining feature of operations here, with the region famous for the seasonal ice floes that drift in from the Sea of Okhotsk, drawing tourists who fly into MBE to see them from sightseeing boats. The airport is small and regional in scale, handling limited daily flights, but it plays an outsized role for local residents and seasonal visitors given the area's isolation from major highways and rail lines.