Pagoda at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple.
Problem: stuck at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Solution: Narita City, a short ride away and a microcosm of a bygone Land of the Rising Sun.
The airport’s distance from central Tokyo, about 40 miles, has been a gripe of travelers since it was built in the 1970s – depending on traffic it can take up to two hours to reach Tokyo by road. High speed rail has cut that travel time to as little as 36 minutes, but after waiting, transferring and getting lost (easy to do in this city laid out to defend the shogun’s castle), it’s hard to justify heading into Tokyo during a layover.
Fortunately the town of Narita is under 10 minutes away by train.
Read the rest of the story on my Forbes Seat 1A blog.