Narita was not technically on our travel agenda but we were flying in and out of the town from Narita Airport. It’s about a 60-80 minutes away from Tokyo, depending on how lucky you get with train. On the way into Japan we went right into Tokyo and didn’t even glance at Narita. However, on the way back from Okinawa we landed there and decided not to head back out to Tokyo. While initially resistant, what I found was that Narita is Japan’s secret gem!
Narita doesn’t have sweeping skylines like Tokyo but the shopping, restaurants and neighborhoods were captivating and very manageable. We stayed in the Chiba neighborhood part of Narita, and found it to be a great spot! I thought it was a great way to experience the culture without the chaos of Tokyo.
FOOD in Narita, Japan’s Secret Gem
The food is really traditional Japanese with Yakitori and sushi restaurants a dime a dozen. However, you can find a lot of different cuisines including Italian and some Latin. The spot we found was an awesome Italian spot called Sumibi Italian, which really hit the spot after endless sushi. This spot is in the middle of the a heavy retail area that doesn’t have a ton of traffic.
Naritasan Temple
So for temple enthusiasts, you may disagree………Narita has one main temple and I found that to be good enough! 🙂 It’s beautiful, huge and not too packed with people, which are all pluses after clammoring with the crowds in other towns of Japan for temples. Naritasan Temple is really beautiful! If you have a long layover and need to see one but aren’t checking any more out, this temple will scratch the itch!
Jazz Clubs
We stumbled on Cloud 9, a spot that felt a bit speak easy for sure! It was the best spot, with impressive performances from a group of young people. They played whatever we asked and it was really tiny and intimate. If you’re into that kind of thing; chatting with locals and getting into conversations with strangers then I recommend! The people couldn’t have been nicer, and it was nice to have a conversation with locals. Just like Karaoke, Jazz seems to be popular in Japan in certain niche neighborhoods, so enjoy!
Shopping
There is NO lack of shopping in Japan. First of all, the street vendors are charming and completely engrossing. You could spend all day just going in and out of the shops. Narita, however, has a huge megatron shopping mall called Aeon. Admittedly I went on a 15-minute cab ride to it because it had a Starbucks, and was craving home. Once I got my Starbs fix, I realized that we were in an amazing shopping mecca! The restaurants there were also great, but they had shops I hadn’t seen before! In Tokyo, when I went to the main strip, I found that it felt as if I were on Michigan Ave, here in Chicago. Therefore, I appreciated the different shops!
Finally, there was a nice 7-11 to make us feel at home. The only problem, candy bars are extremely limited: Kit Kats only baby! I hope that if you get a chance to visit Narita, Japan’s secret gem and that you spend a day there. You’ll see more of the non-tourist Japan while still feeling like you’re in another world entirely.
Make sure to check out my Kyoto review and other spots on Travel here! XO, Z