On the way to the US, I have 9 hours transit time in Japan. I could choose sit down in the airport or I could try exploring Japan in 9 hours... I decided to choose the later one.
We arrived at 8 am at Narita airport. After custom, look for info and money exchange, we're ready to go out at around 9. From Narita airport, I went downstairs to where the trains are. But before doing that, there is a convenient store that sells some omisubi ( Japanese rice ball). I decided to buy some just in case we got hungry on the way.
We took Keisei Line and head to Nippori station. It took about 1 hour to get to Nippori station. From there, we took Yamanote line to Shinjuku for the next 15 minutes. The cost was about 1190 Yen for adults. Children pays 1/2 price, while children younger than 5 is free. Total trip time was about 1.5 hours ( including the time to buy ticket, time to ask the officer which line to go and time to get familiarized with the situation.
We went to Takashimaya building. On the same building, they have Tokyu Hands and Yuzawaya. We went to Tokyu Hands first but then decided to go to Yuzawaya. It's comparable to "JoAnn" but it stacks up about 5 floors up. I looked for paper... washi paper to be exact.
My jaw dropped to see rows and rows of papers. You could easily mistaken it for fabrics.
I spent about 1.5 hours there, looking for fabrics, paper, rubber stamps... if only I have more time.
Then, I went in line to pay. They have line A and B. Lucky for me, Ami, our friend's daughter helped read the Japanese word. Line A if you need some cuttings while B, you just pay. So, I went to line B.
We had beef bowls for lunch, in a small store kind of across Takashimaya building. It's yummy and cheap. Only about $3 a bowl.
We have to catch 5 pm flight, so we decided to head back at around 2:30 pm. We arrived at 4 pm at Narita and we have enough time to go through the custom, board and sit in the plane.
I think it was the best 9 hours in Japan for me...
