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Published: April 19th 2008
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We were returning to California on Japan Airlines and our connection was in Japan. Because of the scheduling, we found ourselves with a 10 hour layover in Narita. Rather than spending all that time at the airport with nothing to do, we decided to see if we could pick up a one day tour of the area. We checked at the information desk and found no short tours available. Speaking only English, we were a little nervous about leaving the airport without a guide but decided to give it a try. We hit the ATM and got some Yen, managed to get tickets and proceeded to the train platform. There were a few signs that had enough English for us to get on the right train, we proceeded to board and find a seat as the train left the station.
We knew that we were to get off the train at the first stop which was Narita City. Leaving the station, we walked down the street until we came to what appeared to be a main cross street. Not knowing which way to turn, I spotted what appeared
to be a major hotel about a block away. Thinking someone at the hotel might speak English, we headed that way. As we entered the lobby, I saw a man that appeared to be an American or possible British. We got lucky because he was British and was a crew member for British Airways. I explained our problem and he was very generous with directions, recommendations and advise.
Our destination was the Naritasan Shinshō-ji Temple. Said to date back to 800 AD, the large temple has a wide assortment of classical Japanese pagodas and halls. We started to walk down the kilometer-long Omote-sandō from Narita station. It was a pleasant walk down a street that at this early hour was very quiet with some of the shops still closed and some just beginning to open for business.
We entered the Temple Grounds through the main gate. We could not help but make comparisons between this Temple and the Temples we saw in Thailand and Bali. Returning from the tropics and landing in a country that is just making the transition from Winter to Spring the
difference was startling. We left Singapore with the temperature around 89F with high humidity and were now standing with the temperature around 56F. When we left, everything was lush and green and now the trees are bare and there is no grass.
After a tour of the grounds and a quick look at some of the souvenir stands, we left and retraced our way back toward the train station. On the way, we saw a sign that said Lions Den Pub and decided it was probable a good place to rest and have a beer. After a review of the menu we settled for a Sapporo. On the street again we passed a shop and saw the owner making something out of bamboo so we stopped to observe. The man was making a custom order for a couple who were giving directions as to how they wanted the bamboo cut and shaped. It turned out that they flew for Continental and they lived in Dallas. As we were leaving, Marci saw a vase made from bamboo that would make a good souvenir.
As we continued our
way we decided we were hungry so we started looking for someplace to eat. We finally found a place that had a display board with pictures of the food and decided that if all else failed we could just point to what looked good. We entered and with a stroke of luck, were seated next to the same couple that we saw in the bamboo shop. We now had someone to interpret for us so we could order. What we ordered was just a little spicy but we both enjoyed it.
We finally made our way back to the train station and now had to figure out how to get back to the airport. The only way to buy a ticket here was by using an automated machine. The smallest denomination I had was a 1000yen paper bill and I could not figure out if the machine would take it or not. I wandered around but could not find anyone that spoke English to assist us. Finally Marci waved me over to where she was talking to a family. The man could see we were confused and he spoke English so we explained
our problem and he offered to help. He told his wife and children to wait for him while he walked me over to the ticket machines and helped me buy two tickets back to the airport. After he accepted our thanks with a knowing smile, we made our way back to the platform to wait for the train.
Back at the airport we made our way to the boarding gate with about 3 hours to wait. We had complementary passes to the airline lounge so we settled in, enjoyed a lite lunch and tried to prepare ourselves for a long flight home.
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