Naritasan Temple at sunrise
Words and photos by Kurt Jacobson
How lucky I am to have been to Japan 10 times now! Even luckier for figuring out not to skip Narita upon arrival. You see, most visitors to Japan coming from the US land at Narita International Airport, but skip seeing the town. The benefits of staying in Narita before setting off to explore the rest of Japan are twofold. One good reason is you’ve just traveled a very long way and are tired. The second reason is there’s plenty worth experiencing in Narita.
Sunrise Photo Walk
On this latest trip I wanted to re-visit some of the places I explored two trips ago. After getting a good night’s rest in the Nikko Narita Hotel, I caught the first shuttle bus of the morning to the Narita train station. The sun had just risen when I arrived in town. I beat feet to the Narita-san Temple for a quiet walk in the woods. Only a few locals were out and about in the streets of Narita, but I did see this one woman sweeping the sidewalk on my way.
Narita sidewalk sweeper
At the temple, I stopped for a photos op on the west side entrance before heading up the stairs to the woods. On my first trip to the temple I spied a cat lounging in the sun so I wasn’t too surprised to see two kitties hanging out.
Cats at Naritasan Temple
There was a mum display at the temple that looked gorgeous in the early morning sun. I stopped to look them over and had the place to myself.
Mums at Naritasan Temple
An Entertaining Robot
I headed back to the bus stop for a ride to the hotel where I took in a show by Pepper, the hotels entertaining robot. It took me a couple of tries on Pepper’s touch-screen to get it to comprehend my English. Once Pepper was listening I asked it to perform the macarena dance. What really cracked me up were the Japanese enhancements to the song. If you listen closely you’ll hear an occasion “hi” outburst. Click the link to watch the show, including warm up.
Pepper at Hotel Nikko Narita
Unagi For Breakfast
With my wife and her parents ready for the day’s activities, we set out by bus to the town for a breakfast of unagi. When I’m jet-lagged and can’t tell breakfast time from dinner time it’s easy to have unagi in the morning. Back home in the US I never eat unagi for breakfast!
Unagi filet crew at Kawatoyo Honten
It’s fun to watch the crew in front of Kawatoyo Honten. Last time I was here they had only two guys fileting and skewering the unagi. I guess business is good these days because they had four guys cranking out the unagi fillets.
Unagi grill man Narita
For just 3,000 Yen we got an unagi set that included a heaping helping of unagi, pickled veggies, soup with unagi liver, and tea. It was delicious as usual and the place was packed.
Unagi at Kawatoyo Honten Narita
On the way back up the hill my wife pointed out two other unagi restaurants without a sole in them. Seems that it helps tremendously to have your unagi prep-team out front for the public to see.
Dango and chocolate
On the way back to the train station my wife and her mom got caught by the dango stand. They love this smooshed rice concoction on a stick.
Dango stand Narita
My treat just a bit further was Coeur de Chocolat, a tiny chocolate and pastry shop. Akaiko and her husband run the shop. He is French and she is Japanese. Aikiko speaks English well which I find most helpful when shopping. I love their chocolates, butter cookies, and croissants.
Almond croissants at Coeur de Chocolat Narita
With all the sites I wanted to see checked off my Narita list accomplished, we headed back to the hotel to check out. It had been a good start to what proved to be another excellent trip to Japan. If you travel to Japan don’t miss the town of Narita, even if it’s just for 2-3 hours to walk the main temple area. Narita is a perfect place to get in the grove of a Japan vacation.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Kurt Jacobson
Japan is a culinary trip that’s been on my list for a long time! After seeing that picture of the unagi—one of my favorite foods—I think I need to get there sooner than later.
Thanks, I’m flying into Narita next month and have about a day to pass some time.
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