After almost 24 hours of traveling, I have arrived in Japan! Japan is a country known for its mythical past, graceful people, and scenic and pristine atmosphere. But the recent destruction caused by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant blast has deterred people from visiting Japan. Tourism plays a big role in Japanese lifestyle and unfortunately the industry has taken quite a hit. But I’m here touring the mystics of this industrious and quaint island of the East, hoping to explore early architecture and deep-rooted cultural practices left behind from the samurai era.
Downtown Narita. I arrived at the Narita airport and took a cab to my hotel. It cost about 1,800 yen ($23) for a 10 minute drive. After settling down at my hotel for a short while, I was ready to explore town. I took the local bus to go to Downtown Narita. I was very excited as I expected to see beautiful Buddhist Temples, disorderly market places, and a plethora of people pushing through the crowd. After I got off the bus, I started walking down the main street towards what I thought would have some sort of activity. But there wasn’t any activity at all.
Narita’s downtown was lifeless. I was the only person walking the streets and almost every shop was closed. I kept on walking down the street, farther and farther away from the bus station, in hopes of encountering something interesting. Once I was far enough away from anything and anyone, it started pouring rain. I didn’t bring an umbrella. But I embraced the rain, for a while at least. It just started to get pretty cold and wet. I finally found a shop that was opened and ran in. Sadly, my first official purchase in Japan was Pocky chocolate, coffee, and an umbrella. Nothing too authentic or tourist-like I guess. I finally made my way back to the bus station with my new souvenirs. Later I found out that the street that I assumed would take me to the heart of Narita was actually just a side road. So Narita was probably much more exciting than I what I experienced.
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