We got up mid morning and were pretty short on Yen so I went to get us breakfast at the McDonald’s on the corner and decided to go down to the post office down the road to use their ATM (it’s international as well and lets you take out 1000yen increments!). I got out 40ooyen (about $40) so we would have enough for lunch and any final snacks or souvenirs we wanted to get. We got around and walked down the main shopping street in Narita for a bit to the Narita-san temple area. We went up the stairs to the temple grounds (which was free!) and looked at the 3 story pagoda and the other buildings on this huge temple complex. We saw a path leading off to the Shinto shrine area so we headed back that way which eventually led into a beautiful park but by this time it was raining pretty steadily so we found our way back (after I got us lost once). When we got back we went and looked around several of the little souvenir stalls run by these cute little Japanese ladies who were really desperate to get us into their almost identical stalls. We bought a couple of things then headed back up the road looking into the different stores and also making a stop at the Tourist Info Center. By this time it was lunch time so we stopped in at a ramen restaurant we had seen earlier. Narita is very close to the airport and so hosts many of the airline crew and others on long layovers so the crowd in the restaurant were westerners for the most part but it was very tasty. I had soy sauce flavored ramen with pork and becky had red chili flavored with pork. It really hit the spot as todays rain was particularly cold. All in all if you are ever stuck for a long layover in Narita airport look into the day visa you can get to go into Narita city as there is a good amount to see and do and it is just a 10 minute train ride or 20 minute bus or taxi ride into the town itself. We got back to the hotel about 12:45 and I grabbed a few snacks at the local AM/PM convenience store to use up the rest of our Yen and we decided to catch the 1:30pm shuttle to the airport and just get through passport control, etc. I plugged in my iPhone to a plug in the lobby while we were waiting and of course ended up forgetting it there though I wouldn’t realize until we were at the airport and through security. We got through security and passport control, etc and decided to look around the duty free shops and Becky bought a bottle of Sake and we both got a few little gift boxes of Japanese snacks. About this time I realized my iPhone was missing so we found an info desk (Becky did I was just angry with myself) and we asked the nice Japanese lady if they had hotel numbers in Narita and she did. She directed us to the pay phones so we headed over and made a call to the hotel where they looked and found the phone and will be shipping it back. With that relief we decided to head down to find our gate and get settled in to wait. We got down there and just above our gate was a nice little snack area where we got drinks, etc. We took a few last walks and bathroom breaks before they began boarding at about 4:45. We headed into the plane and settled in for the 11 hour flight to Chicago. We had less media options this time but one of the movies on the in flight system was “Hachi: A Dog’s Story” which is about the dog who’s statue is at Shibuya but based in the US and stars Richard Gere and Jason Alexander. It’s pretty good and I think at least gets the basic story down from what I understand. We got to Chicago a little early but had to get through passport control where there was a huge line (at least 2 flights had just arrived). We got through there with no issue and moved on to the baggage claim where we had to wait for a while on our bags then get back into another huge line for customs. We breezed through there after the wait and got our bags rechecked through to XNA and headed up to the shuttle train over to our Terminal. By this time we knew it would be close getting to the gate as we still had to go through security so we positioned ourselves to push onto the train and when it got there it was pretty full so I pushed on to try and make room for Becky but didn’t do it quickly enough as almost as soon as the door warning sounded it closed on her arm and backpack. Luckily she was able to force herself in and we got moving on to Terminal 3. We got there and there was another long line for security but about the time I was getting worried they opened another line and we were right where we needed to be to go through that way. Got through and found our gate and as it turns out the flight was just a few minutes late boarding so we had time to catch our breath before boarding. Relatively smooth flight into XNA where we got our bags (they all made it!) and cline drove up just as we walked out the door so we loaded right up and headed home. Pretty much went straight to bed (I think about 8p) and couldn’t sleep anymore at 4am so here I am finishing up the blog. I will post at least one more on final thoughts on Japan and travel in general.