Originally Posted by
PDXNRTLHR
If you leave the air side area, the immigration officer will stamp your passport canceling your departure stamp, so you shouldn't have an issue with using up your single reentry.
Annulling like that is fine for NRT originating passengers. But what if the situation is an incoming connecting passenger who has a single entry visa which is planned for use on a return flight days later? How does that person get to a hotel without losing the planned future entry?