Narita Things to Do

Part of the fun of visiting Narita City is its store lined approach, the Omotesando. Stretching over the entire one kilometer distance from the railway stations to the temple, Naritasan's Omotesando is a lively street lined by numerous restaurants and stores, that have been selling traditional crafts, foods and souvenirs to pilgrims and tourists for centuries.

We ended up eating and buying some souvenirs here.

Naritasan (Naritasan Shinshoji Temple) is a large and highly popular Buddhist temple complex in Narita City, not far from Narita Airport. It is a great site to visit if you have three or more hours to spend around the airport and wish to catch a glimpse of historic Japan.

Naritasan was built in the year 940 around its main sacred object of worship, a statue of the Buddhist Fudo Myoo deity. Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon Sect and one of the most important figures in Japan's religious history, is said to have carved the statue.

I'm not sure if this is a UNESCO World Hertiage site, but if it's not it should be !!!!

One of the things I read about Narita City is that they specialize in Unagi ... eel ... I had never had it .... so we found a place along the main street on the way back from the temples that offered fresh Unagi. And when I mean fresh, I mean they grab it, open it up, clean it out, slice it for you and put it on an open flame grill. Within 10 minutes your eating it !!!! and then wow !!!! I had never had it but all I can say it's one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten anywhere !!!! It cost 1000 yens for a skewer. We had 3 skewers each and a glass of sake !!! and it was a lot better than eating at the airport. And again trying to show support to our Japanese friends by spending some money in town. Well worth it !!!!!

If you're in the Narita area and are looking for something to do, but don't want to spend too much money....Take a trip to Naritasan Park! Frankly the park is less crowded the the parks in Tokyo, but has just as much to see. The Naritasan Shinsho temple is not only beautiful, but also as large as the temple in Asakusa, but without the long travel time and the crowds. I found lots of good advice at www.geocities.com/rc_blom/Narita.html so if you are looking for some quick information about the area you should visit that sight. In anycase, if you only have a short time in Japan, such as a layover, skip Asakusa and visit Narita Park.

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I highly recommend that you take a stroll around Narita town. It is a very quiet and pleasant little town, one that is easy to get around and it is practically impossible to get lost. There are only a few main streets, lined with people's houses, a few shops, numerous restaurants and a few inns/ryokans.

Right in the centre were a few streets (Nishisando, Omotesando and Shinsando Street) meet there was a statue of a lady with a plaque (possibly the Sekitei monument?), but since I can't read Japanese, I can't be sure who the lady is (see pics). There is the Narita Kankokan (Narita Tourist Pavillion) building with a small park across the road. It was in early spring so the the leaves were showing their crimson beauty (see pics).

I was unable to visit the tourist pavillion as it was already closed but I understand that on Thursdays from 10.30 am, they conduct tea ceremonies for visitors. On other days, you may visit to gather information about the region and particularly about the Gion Festival when there are large scale parades being held (VT member dennisKL has pictures on this festival)

At the Naritasan Temple entrance, there is a large red lantern hanging at the Niomon Gate, with an inscription in large Japanese characters in black ink. You are probably wondering what the inscription says. I fully expected it to be the name of the temple or one of the important temple deities.

Well, I found the answer after my trip, on an internet search. What do you know, it was totally unexpected, but the answer is - Fish Market- . Apparently, since the Edo period, it has been a tradition of the fish market to contribute the lantern to the Naritasan Temple. The current lantern was donated by the Fish Market in 1968.

Got time to kill and don't want to shop? The Museum of Aeronautical Sciences is about a 10 min ride from the airport...visit the museum website or go to the airport information desk for info on a shuttle so you can avoid the cab fare. Admission is 500 yen for adults and 300 for teenagers. I did not make it in here due to time constraints but flew over it on the way in. They have about 20 planes outside to look at and much more stuff inside including a restaurants and observation room to relax in and watch planes come and go. Like what you see here..you can also visit the museum shop in the cnetral wing of terminal 1 to bring a toy back for the kids.

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One of the delightful things to do when visiting Naritasan is to stroll around the temple town. The main pathway (Omote-sando) runs through from JR Narita station to Naritasan. There are many shops along this path.

The main street runs from the station to the the entrance gate of Naritasan. There are quite a few old stores with more than 100 years of history, many Chinese medicine stores built of Dozo(warehouse) style, and large wooden Three-story hotels. There are unexpected surprises not only on the main street but also down the narrow side streets.
Another charm of temple town are the local products like Sweet jelly of azuki beans (yokan), Japanese pickles (tsukemono), fish boiled in soy sauce (tsukudani) or local rice-wine (sake) and strolling along the main street eating hand made rice crackers ( teyaki-senbei) or eating broiled eel in a restaurant.

Being an international city Narita, there are many visitors walking along the main street and also some restaurants and noodleshops are almost used exclusively by overseas visitors.