So you’re sitting in New Tokyo International Airport at the beginning your 7-hour layover while en route to Asia and you don’t feel like making the 90 minute trip by train just to get into Tokyo and you’re wondering how to pass the time until you reboard the plane. Why not take the 15-minute bus ride into Narita City and experience a bit of Japan beyond the airport? Narita City is a rather small but comfortable city that can give you the feel and sights of Japan without a lot of effort.
Favourite spots:
Narita City is laid back, with small uncrowned streets and backroads that meander past intriguing alleys and older wooden buildings, some of which lead out of the quaint city center and shortly take you into the countryside amid rice paddies, stands of pine and bamboo and scenic old farm houses. Narita City proved to be a good place to relax at the end of my three weeks traveling alone through Japan. The are a variety of shops if you are interested in a few keepsakes to remind you of your brief time in Japan, and the shop owners are quite friendly; I spent a hour talking with one owner about Japanese culture and music, after which he gave me a personal tape of recorded classical Japanese koto, shamisen and shakuhachi music to keep as a gift after he introduced me to his family.
What's really great:
Narita-San, a picturesque Buddhist temple complex and adjoining traditional Japanese garden, will give you a glimpse into Japan’s Buddhist culture and sense of aesthetics, with majestic shrines and temples laid out on the well-manicured grounds. Narita-San is an easy walk from Narita City Station, which is where the shuttle bus from the airport will drop you off. The main temple hall is especially impressive. It’s a very peaceful place. I’ll always remember walking along a streamside trail on the outskirts of the compound and hearing the songs of birds merge with the trickling of the water and the chants of Buddhist monks from a small prayer hall not far away.
Sights:
You'll find the trip in and out of the airport gate interesting, as there are lots of guards with body armour and long staffs to deal with the myriad demonstrators who protest the airport's expansion into what is held by some to be holy land, and by farmers who protest the expansion into their territory. The water cannons make for a nice touch.
Nightlife:
I saw one club called the Bunny Girl that I didn’t make it to; there was also a number of “gentlemen’s clubs” around.
Restaurants:
There are a lot of small family-owned Japanese restaurants to choose from; this is the best way to eat on a budget in Japan, with the basic traditional dishes oyako domburi very affordable and filling to boot; the sashimi and sushi also proved to be quite good.
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