Naritasan--A Fascinating Temple
The
Temple is, of course, the main attraction of Narita--other than Chrysanthemum
House! As a matter of fact, there is a ceremony held at the Temple that
involves drinking local rice wine (sake) and eating a local root dish--but
worshipers are not given rice during the ceremony precisely so they
will still have an appetite for lunch in the nearby restaurants. Chrysanthemum
House is especially busy during festivals at the Temple.
Up these stairs one finds the main Assembly Hall of Naritasan. The Temple grounds include numerous shrines, a colorful pagoda, a large prayer wheel, and many other buildings. Recently we enjoyed an exhibit of children's art from around the world housed in one of the many structures in the complex.
By the way, we were amazed to learn that the inscription on the lantern reads "fish market." It seems it's a tradition for the fishermen to donate the lantern!
It is possible to arrange for a guided tour of Naritasan or you can learn more about it from tour books and informative leaflets available all over Narita. But even if you have no understanding of the meaning of the different statues and buildings, walking through the Temple is a feast for all your senses. Fragrant smoke from incense, tinkling bells and resounding drums, elaborate carvings, cotton candy and roasted chestnuts, cool stone and smooth wood--all these reinforce the notion that you are some place wonderful, some place special!
Beyond
the various buildings is a wooded park--a great place to forget the
modern world for a few moments and commune with nature. As you see here,
Naritasan is lovely in the Autumn. It is equally enchanting in the other
three seasons.
By the way, even with an unfavorable (to visitors) dollar-yen exchange rate, visiting Narita is not expensive. For less than $80 (including tax and an airport shuttle), we stayed in a very nice hotel room in central Narita. We had a double bed, refrigerator, cable TV, tea pot, air conditioning--in short, everything one would expect in a moderately priced hotel.
We enjoyed an American-style breakfast in our room. Needless to day, we spent lunch and dinner at Chrysanthemum House. We ate a lot of eel because that's something we can't get at home very easily. Fortunately for us, there's a stall just next door to Chrysanthemum House that processes eels so we were assured of an ample supply!
Needless to say, these pages are a labor of love! Please do yourself a favor--drop by Chrysanthemum House. The address is 385 Kakamachi, a 5-minute walk up the hill from Naritasan, directly across the street from the Narita tourist office. Tell them the crazy, eel-loving pilot sent you. And when you get home, please let me know how you enjoyed your trip to old Japan in the 21st Century!
