January 18

Tako is a small town a half hour toward the coast from the Narita International Airport outside Tokyo, Japan. It is home to rice fields, bike and walking paths lined with cherry trees, shrines and temples. We took advantage of our 12-hour layover by touring the town on electric bikes with Akiko Matsunaga, a wonderful retired man who volunteers for the Narita Airport Transit & Stay program. We visited the small nondescript local supermarket that wowed and entertained us with its neat orderliness and giant mouthwatering vegitables. There we picked up our bikes and headed out in the frigid cold to ride to Nichihon-ji Temple, a beautiful compound down a row of giant fir trees. The fine lines of the architecture combined with manicured trees is stunning. We then had one of our best meals of our trip at the local tempura restaurant that did not have one English word anywhere. We did some shopping for mochi and other treats to bring home with us and returned to the airport for our second of two back-to-back red-eye flights home feeling like we actually got to experience Japan … and super excited to come back for a real stay.