Layover at Tokyo Narita airport: can I travel outside, and what kind of visa would I need?

7/13/2016 10:56:00 PM

Don’t even try it! Far better to relax in the airport or visit the charming city of Narita.

As others have posted, Natita is only a stop away from the airport and provides an entertaining way to spend a few hours and ten or twenty thousand yen.

Go to Tokyo only when you have a few days to stay there. On a short transit layover like this, you’ll spend all of your time queuing and traveling and will end up exhausted and frustrated.

Remember that an hour prior to departure is the time when your flight will be preparing to board. Not the time you should be arriving back at the airport.

I know the original post was several years ago, but since Internet forums live on forever, and this question will be asked again and again, I’m posting this answer for posterity

8/4/2012 9:24:24 PM

Many visitors in your situation find their time in Tokyo quite disappointing. Tokyo is far from Narita*, confusing, and crowded. The best sights in Tokyo are the temples, but there is a superb temple complex in Narita city. Stay in Narita.

*This should improve when the new train line is completed.

2/19/2017 7:26:14 AM

For the visa part, the rules are (from Timaticweb):

Holders of onward tickets transiting to a third country can
obtain a Shore Pass on arrival for a max. stay of 72 hours
only if there are no connecting flights on the same calendar day and if:

  • holding a passport, proof of maintenance during their
    stay, and sufficient evidence that the Shore Pass will be
    appropriately used; and
  • departing from the same airport of arrival, or from a different airport (or seaport) around the airport (or
    seaport) of arrival, if both ports are located within the
    same group below.

The Shore Pass is not intended for itineraries that make
Japan a destination.

  • Group A:
    Airports: Narita (NRT), Haneda (HND), Nagoya (NGO), Niigata
    (KIJ), Komatsu (KMQ) and Yokota.
    Seaports: Tokyo, Yokohama, Niigata and Nagoya;
  • Group B: Airports: Osaka Kansai (KIX), Nagoya (NGO) and Komatsu
    (KMQ).
    Seaports: Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya.
  • Group C:
    Airports: Fukuoka (FUK), Nagasaki (NGS), Kumamoto (KMJ),
    Kagoshima (KOJ), Naha (OKA) and Kadena.
    Seaports : Hakata (Fukuoka), Shimonoseki and Naha (Okinawa).
  • Group D:
    Airport: Chitose (CTS).
    Seaports: Tomakomai, Otaru, Hakodate and Muroran.

Under those rules, you can obtain a shore pass on arrival at Narita and venture out of the airport.

6/14/2012 5:45:17 PM

I’m not sure about the visa part, but about the time:

By the cheapest train I seem to recall Narita airport is about two hours from Tokyo. Also you might well have to be back at the airport at least one hour before boarding, and quite possibly more. And the train system in Japan is notoriously complex. It will be very easy to get a bit lost and miss your flight in Tokyo (I’ve done it once) and it will be very expensive to just take a taxi the whole way to the airport from Tokyo. You might consider renting a car, but you’ll have to make sure you’ve prepared in advance because even with English on all road signs, Japanese place names etc can be a bit bewildering when you’re not used to it.

If you just want to dip into Japanese culture though, don’t worry because Narita has quite a bit to offer for an airport city. It’s very compact, hard to get lost in, and close to the airport so even if you have to take a taxi it won’t be too expensive. It’s a fairly typical little Japanese city with lots of small shops, food, parks, a calligraphy museum, and a temple that is at least a thousand years old.

My first two times in Japan I had only 24 hours in Narita between flights and I enjoyed it very much.

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About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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