Eli5: Why do some flights go so far north before crossing the Pacific Ocean?

Question

There is a flight going from Dallas Texas to Tokyo but they appear to be going all the way to Alaska before crossing and coming back down.

In: 1

Answer 1

The shortest path between to points on a sphere is called a great circle. You can use this tool to calculate the great circle between any two airports.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=DAL-NRT&MS=wls&DU=mi