Wow! What a horrendous situation. Hope she gets back on her feet and back with us soon.

Stay at a hotel in NRT City. I would not bother with the Raddison as although it is close to the airport you then have to rely on a shuttle/taxi to get into Narita itself. Getting into Narita is a piece of cake. Some hotels offer shuttles but taking the JR is very easy to do.
I have stayed at the mercure a few times. It is around the corner from Narita station and a pretty good location, I think. There are also shops, restaurants,
etc very close by. Just down the block is a bus dept where you can take buses to various places.

Also, I'd recommend using left luggage at whatever NRT terminal will be flying from. I think rates start at about 500-600 yen depending on the size of the bag but if you leave your bags at the airport and take a small carry-on to your hotel you won't have to worry about dragging it around and off and on buses and trains.

This is my first post, so bear with me:
I am going SIN-NRT-JFK on JAL. Because of limited availability of award tickets, I arrive at NRT on 4.30 PM on 7/18 and then leave at 7.05 PM on 7/19. I want to see Tokyo, but from internet searches I don't really get a feeling what I can do in a short amount of time. Also, do any of you know of any good, somewhat affordable places to stay?

Thanks a lot!!

Welcome to FT.

You can find links to threads that discuss reasonable hotels etc in the Master Thread. Look for the thread at the top of the Japan forum page, labeled: "Sticky: Japan (Tokyo and beyond) Master Thread "
You will also find many, many threads regarding one day Narita layovers if you search the Japan forum for keywords like: hrs NRT … or …. hours NRT … or …. layover NRT … or ….layover Narita

You’ll know you’re on the right track when you see a thread with the title “23 hours in Tokyo- yes i've read the threads “

If you see something that interests you but needs clarification, you could add your question to the bottom of that thread.

Now I’m going to ask a moderator to merge this thread with one of the existing ones… maybe this one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...hlight=nrt+hrs

Welcome to FlyerTalk, idrathersail!

The thread you launched was merged together with this existing thread to keep the information consolidated. Also, jib71 gives some good advice.

I have been to Tokyo and enjoyed it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Domo arigato!

Regards,

Canarsie
Senior Moderator

Thanks a lot for the help!!

I'm bumping this thread.

I've got a similar timing at NRT. In at 5:00 PM out at 2:00PM the next day. I've never been to Japan. If I only have that amount of time, I assume after reading this thread I won't be able to get into Tokyo, and i'll have to stick to Narita? Should I try and do everything possible to extend my stay by another night? What are the top 3 things that are must sees if I hit tokyo? Also appreciate a hotel suggestion (or should I try and go all night?)

You can make it into Tokyo. You probably won't reach Tokyo before 7pm. And you'll need to leave Tokyo by 11am at the latest on the day of your flight.

You should, indeed, do everything possible to spend an extra lifetime in Tokyo.

What to do and where to stay are extensively discussed in other threads.

Thank you very much for the advice jib71. I have some questions, and maybe I should post them in the United forum, but... Can I check my bags immediately when I land (so I all I have to carry into Tokyo are my carry ons)? Is it possible to check part of my baggage, and not all of it? Alternatively, is there a place to store my baggage at Narita so that I can only take with me what I need?

Thank you.

Also, can anyone recommend either a guided tour or a suggested itinerary? I arrive at 2 PM and leave around 4 PM the following day. I will have luggage (depending on the answer to above). I do not need to sleep, but it might be nice to atleast shower. I will happily go all night if I have places to see and am safe.

Two self-guided itineraries:

http://wikitravel.org/en/One_day_in_Tokyo
http://wikitravel.org/en/Classic_Tokyo%2C_Modern_Tokyo

Don't expect to pull off either in entirety (esp. the first) if you're tired and jetlegged.

You can probably check your luggage all the way through from the point of origin to the final destination. That would relieve you of the need to deal with the checked luggage at NRT.
The only draw back is that you would need to pack all of your overnight needs in your carry-on. And unfortunately, you cann't carry liquids in your carry-on luggage. Can you handle an overnight stop without any liquids? Hotels here generally provide shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste. It's possible buy shaving foam, hair gel, moisturizer and other basic toiletries in any convenience store. That's what I would do...

But if you insist on having your preferred brand of hair tonic in the morning, then you'll need to retrieve your checked luggage at NRT. I don't think you can recheck it until the day of the flight. But you could leave a suitcase in storage at the airport overnight. There are desks for various delivery services in the arrivals hall, who will all store a suitcase for a fee.

FWIW - All of this information can be found by reading the sticky and searching previous threads. There's also a recent thread on Tokyo tours.

Thanks again for all of the advice - this will be my last question.

Sorry in advance, as I know I am repeating, but i've looked at all the starwood hotels (i'm SPG Gold, so washoping to stay at one of their hotels), none of them seem to be in the hip areas. I want to stay in an area where I can easily get around tokyo, and hopefully see something late at night so I don't have to travel very far to get a few hours of sleep. I would like to spend around $150, would be willing to go as high as 20,000 yen.

Thanks, and again, sorry for repeating myself.

You might opt for a business hotel near Tokyo station. If you're comfortable with a tiny, no-frills room, you can find a cheap business hotel for about 10,000 yen around Nihonbashi - within walking distance of Tokyo station. If you go up to 20,000 yen, you can be in a livelier area -- Hibiya (REMM, or the Dai-ichi Hotel Annex) or Ginza (Mitsui Garden Hotel). You might also want to look at the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi, which is right on top of Tokyo station. (The buildings around Marunouchi aren't so Japanese in ambience - but you can go to Nihonbashi for some old-style izakayas, and the Shin Marunouchi building has some more modern bars and restaurants that stay open very, very late).

Other areas that you could consider:

- Nippori Station is easy to reach (by Keisei Skyliner) and puts you in reach of the "old Tokyo" working class neighbourhoods. Hotel Lungwood sounds awful, but looks OK. (Remember also that the Keisei Skyliner is cheaper than the N'EX).

- Shinjuku Station is somewhat less accessible than Nippori and Tokyo, but it's as lively as Tokyo gets. (N'EX runs less frequently to Shinjuku and takes 90 minutes - compared with 60 minutes to Tokyo station).