TravelManKen

If my inbound flight is on time, I'm scheduled to be in Narita for 3hrs/10min next Wednesday afternoon (6/27). I think I will attempt the "airport escape" for lunch - two questions:
* I'm planning to travel with my backpack and a standard carry-on bag, will it be weird rolling a bag around Narita-town?

* UA tells me if I change my inbound flight (PEK-NRT) to the previous day, they will be able to place me in first vs. economy, which would cause me to be in NRT for one night (arrive 7:30p, depart next day 4:05p) - is there any adventure worth doing near NRT making one night on the ground worth the stop?

Heck, if I have to be back at the airport by 2:45p-ish, should I just hang out in the club, or is there a good sushi place near NRT where I can stuff my face for 90 minutes?

(Heck, that gives me an idea. I wonder what other Asia connections I could make on *A arriving in NRT by Wednesday, and have stop-over enroute fun?)

RichardInSF

There are adventures in Narita town if by adventure you mean meeting up with airline crew on a layover.

With that longer overnight layover schedule and some bucks to spare, you could spend the night in Tokyo. Given that option, I personally would never waste the time in Narita town. There are adventures to be had in Tokyo at night, or so I've heard.

Three hours and 10 minutes is pushing it for Narita town even if there isn't a line for immigration, especially if you are schlepping bags. It would depend on how lucky you were at having your layover times match the train schedules -- this route isn't like the Yamanote line where there's a train every three minutes!

upgraded

Getting back to my original posting about a 12 hour layover at NRT, I can report that we did go into Tokyo. If I had to do it over again I would have just gone into Narita City. We we just too tired after the overnight flight from Hanoi and standing in line for over an hour in immigration to really enjoy Tokyo.

I really want to thank everyone who was kind enough to provide the very helpful comments I received.

davem4

I just had an 18 hour layover recently (15th), I stayed in Narita and had a good time, saw the temple and went to the aeon shopping centre and tried alot of food.

Immigration at NRT was the best i've seen, took all of 60 sec. (super typhoon and 600 flights were cancelled so absolutely no one there).

SJUAMMF

I've taken early morning ITM-NRT to connect to an afternoon NRT-SFO just to check in my luggage all the way. Then took the Keisei line to Tokyo for a lunch appointment. I didn't have the immigration problem in this case.

FlyerInCmh

I have an almost 3 hr int'l to int'l layover in NRT in December... my JL flight from ORD arrives at 3:20pm and my next JL flight leaves at 6:15pm. I'd like to go landside, walk around a little bit, and take pictures. (I also want to get the stamps ). How bad is the immigration and custom line around these times? I want to make sure I get back in with enough time to catch the next flight. Is it even worth going landside, or should I just stay airside?

Thank you!

jib71

It's possible but IMHO it's not "worth it". However, since you want to get stamps in your passport you appear to have a different idea of "value" from me. So maybe it's "worth it" to you.

Personally, I think one gets better value from buying a kerokeroppi- stamp at an airside souvenir shop and decorating ones passport with it. On the plane you can also decorate the immigration and customs documents for the next country with Kerokeroppi- stamps. Chinese immigration officials especially love seeing that kinda stuff.

RichardInSF

I think 3pm or so is the worst time of day for inbound immigration, and 5pm is about the worst for outbound. Anyone else have a view on this?

LapLap

But you're forgetting that visitors now get an orange sticker with kaleidescope barcode when they enter Japan and an inked stamp when they depart - so the OP would need to get a sheet of stickers along with their green stamps to authentically replicate "feeling of being in Japan".

MilesAndMore

Agree on inbound but my experiences on outbound has been the same at 9am or 3pm.

ksandness

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't feel secure about going into Narita town on a 3 to 4-hour layover, but then, I'm a real worrywart when it comes to making flights on time, due to a couple of "learning experiences."

As far as I know, all the restaurants and shops in the airport take credit cards, there are newsstands selling English-language books and magazines, and the souvenir shops sell a comprehensive array of typical Japanese souvenirs. There's certainly enough to keep a person busy for a couple of hours.

jib71

Those times coincide with many North American flights, so there are lots of "first world" passports to be checked.

I have found the outgoing immigration to be far worse shortly before the early morning flights to China. (Say 8.00am on a Monday). I'm not sure if that's because of too few staff on duty or whether it's because of the extra time they spend looking at Asian passports.

You're absolutely right.
I didn't mean to suggest that FlyerInCmh could visit Narita town during his 3-hour gap between flights. I should make it clear that I think he has time to pass through immigration, look at the arrivals hall for about 3 minutes and then go straight to the departures level and immediately go through security and immigration again in order to make it to his gate in time for boarding.

Ah. I imagine that this is similar to the orange sticker in my passport? To me it resembles a grid of black dots like a highly compressed newspaper crossword rather than a "kaleidoscope." -- I wouldn't want to give FlyerInCmh the idea that this is something he'll be able to hold up to the light and twiddle around for hours of entertainment.

You raise an interesting point about experiencing a "feeling of being in Japan." -- IMHO, someone who merely goes through immigration and customs and looks at the Narita Airport Arrivals Hall does not experience a "feeling of being in Japan." However, someone who visits the ANA lounge, eats a bowl of soba, drinks a beer from the ABM then goes to purchase a kerokerokeroppi- stamp at an airside souvenir shop and decorates his passport with it most definitely experiences a "feeling of being in Japan" and furthermore, he will carry this "feeling of being in Japan" with him wherever he goes.

Scifience

Going landside at NRT on a 3-hour layover is cutting it too close for comfort for me. You almost certainly don't have time to go into the town of Narita proper, unless you had no queue at all at immigration/customs, happened to arrive with perfect timing to catch a train into town, and wanted to do nothing more than stand outside the station and turn around.

You are far better off just exploring airside for that time unless you plan on missing your flight, IMHO.

FlyerInCmh

Thank you everyone for your replies. IMO, you are all right. It's better to not go through the hassle of waiting in long lines with the possibility of missing the flight. I don't think I will go landside during my layover. I'm sure I can find things to do airside for 3 hours. I've never been to NRT, so I'll do some exploring there

LapLap

If you're after a nice gift to bring back, I heartily recommend the Yoku Moku biscuits! These can be purchased airside at NRT.