Narita, Japan: It's a daunting prospect to try and nail down in a few sentences what Japan is like. Do you start with the spiritual side - the jaw-dropping temples and shrines? Or go for the goofy stuff - the neon signs, animation characters and countless karaoke bars? Japan is everything you assume it is and then some.
Here's a protip from someone who's lived there and returned recently for a visit - all that goofy stuff is meant as a joke. The crazy commercials are not on all the time and when they are Japanese people have the same reaction we do. Even the dirty stuff - especially the dirty stuff - is such a niche aspect and not indicative at all of an entire culture.
Simplistic views of Japan are like a foreigner getting sent pictures of winter in Nunavut and assuming all of Canada is like that. We must all be hunting seals, drinking maple syrup by the gallon and being really nice to people all the time.
Last November I visited what I think is one of the most underrated cities in all of Japan - Narita.
"The City of Rising Fortune" is an hour northeast of Tokyo, the country's capital and the largest metropolis in the world.
There's no avoiding it. Narita is home to the largest airport in the country and almost all international
flights stop there. But most people pass on through to get to Tokyo or Kyoto, by far the two most popular tourist destinations.
But stopping in Narita for a couple days is more than worth your time, and my journey there had so many surprises in store for me in a country where I didn't think there were any left.
Having travelled all around the Kansai region - one of four major landmasses making up Japan - I can justifiably say Narita's spiritual side is its best feature and an utterly unique experience, even for the cynical traveller.
Narita is home to the single largest gathering point for New Year celebrations in Japan: Shinsho-ji Temple. Millions of people travel there annually to pray for
good fortune and health.
The Shingon Buddhist temple is the focal point of a large temple complex, housing all sorts of historical paraphernalia and located adjacent to a beautiful, sprawling garden.
I walked to Shinsho-ji along Omotesando street. a historical road kings, merchants, priests and samurai of old used to travel on their way to the temple. Statues dedicated to each animal of the Zodiac line the streets. With each step I couldn't help but think how I was walking on hallowed ground.
Restaurants with the city's famed unagi (barbecued eel) dot the winding road with the mouthwatering scent of seafood literally steaming from their walls. When there's no restaurant, odds
are you'll see a bar or one of the breweries Narita is home to.
I stopped into a brewery and storefront about five minutes from Shinsho-ji. To say the Japanese make use of their space would be an understatement. Walking across the floor is like negotiating a corn maze with bottles on all sides. Huge casks mark the entrance, while homemade glass-bottle brews dot the shelving, tables and floor. For the avid drinker, this is the place for fresh sake.
I stopped in for a few minutes, got some sake and continued on to the temple, resisting the tempting snack stands on every corner due to a solid mind on my diminishing wallet.
By the time I got to the temple entrance, a 15-minute walk from the JR Narita station, I already felt like I had been on a full trip but, as with all good travelling experiences, I was about to be pleasantly surprised.
Up the entrance steps I found myself standing under a four-storey pagoda in the courtyard of the temple unlike any I'd ever seen. It's bright and colourful with a distinct 3D art style invoking images of waves and powerful kami (gods). The bright orange, red and blue paint are not normal. At all. The Japanese are a humble people and anything that stands out tends to be pushed back down. Yet, this temple has stood the test of time in spectacular fashion.
I was still thinking about the tower while I walked up the ancient stone steps, past buildings erected hundreds of years ago and shrines older than that. It wasn't until I got into the final temple, Shinsho-ji, that I realized how unique Narita is.
The Japanese are polytheistic for the most part. Many are Buddhist with bits of Shinto, or at the very least call themselves superstitious. The Japanese Buddha, 99 per cent of the time, is going to appear like a chubby, smiling man seated on a lotus, one hand up with the thumb cupping the ring finger. It will be made of bronze, copper, or another typically brown material. It's peaceful and inspires a calm mood.
Shinsho-ji's Buddha is the
single most unique Buddha I've come across in all my travels. It stands nine metres tall and is blazing red and blue with fires raging around its demonic face. The happy-go-lucky Buddha I'd come to expect was turned on its head and the shock of a bold, red and battlehungry Buddha smacked me like an angsty mule.
I asked my tour guide why the Buddha seemed so mad.
He laughed and smiled, then simply said, "Buddha can be angry too. And this is angry Buddha."
Before then I thought I'd seen angry. But this was rage incarnate. This was the most stunning Buddha I'd seen next to the largest indoor Buddha in the world, found in Nara, Japan.
I crouched down on the red carpet inside the temple right before the angry Buddha and just shook my head. This Buddha survived hundreds of years. It has
seen several human life spans, survived world wars. It's seen kings pass and control between state and the people shift time and time again. It lived through the horrible earthquake, which decimated some of the grounds in March 2011. And now here I stood before it.
I left the temple about an hour later that day after having walked through the beautiful gardens, but I was still thinking about that Buddha. It's left a mark on me and even now I can picture it vividly in my mind.
Narita may not be as big as Tokyo, or as obviously symbolic as Kyoto, or the cuisine of Osaka, but nothing can take away its utterly original temple grounds, exciting streets, and yes, karaoke bars.
It truly is the City of Rising Fortune and while it doesn't warrant a long stay, it definitely deserves a few days of your time.
