A temple street that smells of grilled eel
Narita, about 10 minutes by train from Narita Airport, grew up around Naritasan Shinshoji, a temple founded in 940. The street up to the temple is lined with restaurants that slice and grill unagi, freshwater eel glazed with sweet soy sauce, at the shop front. It fits easily into the hours before a flight home or right after you land.
At the front of the shop, cooks slice eels on wooden boards and grill them in full view of the street. The restaurant has been open for over a century and fills up at lunchtime, so expect a wait.
Open since the Edo period, before 1868, this is one of the oldest eel restaurants on the street, where cooks grill each eel by hand. Closed on Thursdays.
Known for its unasoba set, which pairs eel over rice with a bowl of buckwheat soba noodles, so you can try two Japanese classics in one meal.
This temple to Fudo Myoo, a fierce-faced guardian deity, holds the goma fire ritual several times a day in its Great Main Hall: monks chant and beat drums as flames rise from the altar. Visitors can sit in the hall and watch. Entry to the grounds, with a three-story pagoda and a large garden, is free.