Just considering the possibility as an overnight transit, arriving in the afternoon and departing the following afternoon. Pluses would be a free night hotel stay with points and not having to limousine bus back and forth into the city. Of course there would be more to do and many more dining choices in Tokyo.

Did a bit of research and we could visit the Naritasan Shinshoji and stroll the Omotesando area. For those of you who have done this, how are the dining options in town? Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

I love the Naritisan temple complex and think Narita is a great "soft landing" location for Japan. I'm not up on restaurant options (I usually stay in airport hotels) but assume there are decent places.

sure, plenty to see there

Thanks Gardy and rhkkmk. Anyone know if there are sento (bath houses) in town for a good soak and massage? Would be great after a long flight.

If you are just doing a transit, then Narita is a good option (saving the tedious trek into the city after a flight). There is enough to see/do, and even if you are staying at one of the airport hotels the shuttle buses and taxis work efficiently.

Found a bath house in town that looks quite nice, Hana No Yu. A hot bath and massage then dinner sounds wonderful. There's an English link on the website if anyone is interested.

http://www.hananoyu-narita.com/

I booked a night at Wakamatsu Honten in Narita, directly opposite the temple, for our last night in Japan before departure. It looks like their restaurant specialises in eel, which I adore, though I think plenty of non-eel food will be available if you don't like it. And the location looks super to me.

Hana No Yu is quite nice. THAT's the place (not Yamata No Yu) that I visited using the Narita Circle Bus from the Hilton.

Here is a link with the bus timetable pdf: naritatransit.net/bus/timetable.pdf Maybe your hotel is on the route.

I was concerned that being close to the international airport that it might not be the real thing - maybe too many gaijin and it was dumbed down somehow. It is definitely not that. It's the real deal and popular with the locals. Don't expect anybody there to understand English.

I didn't get a massage but I did have something to eat. I could say I "had dinner" but it was very informal, inexpensive, tasty Japanese fast food. The photos at this link http://tinyurl.com/jx9yecu tell the story.

Great to hear you enjoyed the Hana No Yu experience mrwunrfl, and also that it is popular with the local residents.

In doing more research on things to do while staying in Narita City, the town of Sawara looks very interesting. 30 minutes by train from Narita Station, it is an historic, "Old Edo" river town with 100 year old buildings. Things are starting to look up for this transit.

http://tokyo.digi-joho.com/trips-exc...ori-chiba.html