Narita and Sawara Day Trip: 2 Model Routes, Naritasan Goma Ritual and Eel, or Sawara Boat Ride (¥1,300)

2 model routes for a day in Narita and Sawara

Naritasan Shinshoji is a 10-minute walk from the station, while Sawara's townscape is 15 minutes on foot from JR Sawara Station.
Plan A stays at Naritasan; Plan B takes the JR Narita Line to Sawara in the afternoon for a boat ride and museums.
The boat ride is ¥1,300 for adults, and a combined ticket for Ino Tadataka Museum and Dashi Float Hall is ¥800.

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This page is for people with no plans or reservations yet. Follow either route below and you have a day in Narita and Sawara, in Chiba east of Tokyo.

Naritasan Shinshoji temple is a 10-minute walk from Keisei Narita Station and JR Narita Station, and the old townscape of Sawara is a 15-minute walk from JR Sawara Station, so you can do both on foot from the stations. The two plans differ in whether you spend the whole day in Narita, or go to Sawara on the JR Narita Line after the morning at Naritasan.

In short

A slow day at Naritasan: Plan A (morning Goma ritual, then Naritasan Park and the Calligraphy Museum, then eel on the Omotesando approach).
A day that also includes a boat ride in the “Little Edo” town: Plan B (Naritasan in the morning, lunch on Omotesando, JR Narita Line to Sawara, then the boat ride, the Ino Tadataka Museum and the Dashi Float Hall).
The Ino Tadataka Museum and the Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall have a combined ticket (¥800 for adults), ¥100 cheaper per adult than buying them separately.

Checked with official pages on November 1, 2026 (Japan time).

1. Timetables for the 2 Narita and Sawara routes

Both plans enter Naritasan in the 9 o’clock hour. Plan A ends the day in Narita and Plan B ends it in Sawara. Times are estimates and do not include travel time.

Time	Plan A (Naritasan)	Plan B (Naritasan and Sawara)	Nearest station
9:00–10:00	Goma ritual at Naritasan Shinshoji	Goma ritual at Naritasan Shinshoji	Keisei Narita / JR Narita
10:00–11:00	Naritasan Park and Calligraphy Museum	Walk through Naritasan Park	Same
Noon	Eel at Kawatoyo Honten	Eel at Kawatoyo Honten	Same
Afternoon	Walk down Omotesando to the station	JR Narita Line to Sawara, then boat ride, Ino Tadataka Museum, Dashi Float Hall	JR Sawara

Sources: official sites of Naritasan Shinshoji, Katori City and the Chiba Prefecture Tourism and Products Association (Marugoto e! Chiba), checked on November 1, 2026.

2. Things to know in Narita and Sawara (train changes, last entry, road controls in December)

Narita and Sawara are on the same JR Narita Line, so you can go without changing trains, but the museums in Sawara cannot be seen unless you enter by about 16:00.

From Tokyo to Narita, a Keisei limited express takes about 65 minutes from Ueno Station, and the JR Sobu Line rapid takes about 75 minutes from Tokyo Station. To Sawara there is also a Kanto Railway highway bus from Tokyo, and if you get off at “Yasaka-mae” the Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall is a 1-minute walk.
The Ino Tadataka Museum and the Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall both close at 16:30 and ask you to enter by about 16:00. Both are closed on Mondays (the next weekday if Monday is a holiday) and from December 29 to January 1, so Plan B avoids Mondays.
In Sawara, there are road controls on the day of the Katori Koedo Marathon in December, according to the Ino Tadataka Museum page of Katori City. If you go by car, check Katori City’s road control notice first.
For visitors to Naritasan by car, there are the Koeikai Tsuchiya, Tamachi and Honcho car parks (all 3 minutes on foot) and a city car park. The boat ride car park (30 spaces) is ¥550 a day for a standard car (Chiba Prefecture Tourism and Products Association).

You can also look for a car park near Naritasan on Tokupi (car park search) (ad).

3. Plan A: Naritasan from the morning Goma ritual

Naritasan Shinshoji

At the Great Main Hall, the Goma prayer ritual (a fire ritual) is held every day in front of the Fudo-sama statue, and you can go up into the hall and pray without applying in advance (Goma prayer page, Japanese). From October to March the morning Goma starts at 6:00. From October to December the daytime ritual is held 5 times a day on weekdays, and every hour from 9:00 to 15:00 on weekends and holidays. On December 13 there is no 6:00 Goma because of the year-end cleaning (Goma times page, Japanese).

If you want to receive a Goma talisman, apply at the Goma reception. The Goma fee starts at ¥5,000. It is about 10 minutes on foot from Keisei Narita Station and JR Narita Station.

At the back of the grounds is Naritasan Park, about 3.5 times the size of Tokyo Dome, planted with plum, cherry, wisteria and autumn-color trees. The path goes around 3 ponds and the Yuhi Falls, and if you clap your hands at the floating hall on Ryuchi Pond, carp gather.

November 2020, autumn leaves at Naritasan (official channel of Naritasan Shinshoji)

Name	Naritasan Shinshoji
Address	1 Narita, Narita City, Chiba
Hours / Closed	Morning Goma is 6:00 October–March, 5:30 April–September. Daytime Goma times vary by month and day of the week
Phone	0476-22-2111
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗
Official site	Open the official site ↗

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Naritasan Calligraphy Museum

A calligraphy museum inside Naritasan Park. It permanently shows a rubbing of the 13-meter-tall “Ki Taizan Mei” inscription and holds about 7 special exhibitions a year. From October 20, 2026 the admission was revised to ¥800 for general visitors, and free for high school students and younger (under 18). It is open from 9:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30), and closed on Mondays (the next day if Monday is a holiday) and while exhibits are being changed (Naritasan Park and Calligraphy Museum page, Japanese).

Name	Naritasan Calligraphy Museum
Address	Inside Naritasan Park, Narita City, Chiba
Hours / Closed	9:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30; closed Mondays, or the next day if a holiday; closed during exhibition changes)
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗
Official site	Open the official site ↗

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Kawatoyo Honten

An eel restaurant on the Omotesando approach, founded in 1910. From the street you can see craftsmen splitting eels at the shop front, and the building put up in 1911 became a nationally registered tangible cultural property in 2019. The unaju (eel on rice in a box) is ¥3,200, the jo-unaju is ¥4,300 and the liver soup is ¥200. It is about 11 minutes on foot from Keisei Narita Station and JR Narita Station (Chiba Prefecture Tourism and Products Association page on Kawatoyo Honten, Japanese).

In Plan A, after lunch you walk back down Omotesando to the station, looking into the shops on the way.

Name	Kawatoyo Honten
Address	386 Nakamachi, Narita City, Chiba
Hours / Closed	10:00–17:00 (last order; no regular closing day, irregular holidays depending on season)
Phone	0476-22-2711
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗

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4. Plan B: JR Narita Line to the Sawara townscape in the afternoon

In the morning you do the same Goma ritual and park as in Plan A, have lunch at Kawatoyo Honten, then return to JR Narita Station. Take a Narita Line train for Sawara or Choshi and you reach Sawara Station without changing. From Narita Station to Sawara Station takes about 30 to 40 minutes, and daytime trains run about once an hour (JR East timetable for Narita Station, Japanese).

Koedo Sawara Boat Ride

A boat with a boatman guide that goes about 30 minutes along the Ono River through the center of Sawara. The landing is a cargo landing called “dashi” in front of the former house of Ino Tadataka, and from the Hibashi bridge just above it (nicknamed Jaja Bridge) water falls every 30 minutes. In winter a kotatsu (heated table) is placed in the boat. It runs from 10:00 to 16:30 (the closing time changes by season), and costs ¥1,300 for adults and ¥700 for elementary school students. It is about 15 minutes on foot from JR Sawara Station (Chiba Prefecture Tourism and Products Association page, Japanese).

Name	Koedo Sawara Boat Ride
Address	I-1730-3 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba
Hours / Closed	10:00–16:30 (closing time varies by season; irregular holidays)
Phone	0478-55-9380
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗

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Ino Tadataka Museum

A Katori City museum showing the National Treasure materials of Ino Tadataka, who made a map of Japan. Allow 20 to 30 minutes. The former house of Ino Tadataka across the Ono River is free, and takes 5 to 10 minutes. Admission is ¥500 for adults, ¥250 for elementary and junior high students and ¥450 for people aged 65 and over, paid in cash or PayPay. The combined admission with the Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall is ¥800 for adults and ¥350 for elementary and junior high students (Katori City guide to the museum, Japanese). It is 15 minutes on foot from JR Sawara Station.

Name	Ino Tadataka Museum
Address	I-1722-1 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba
Hours / Closed	9:00–16:30 (last entry around 16:00; closed Mondays, or the next weekday if a holiday; closed December 29–January 1)
Phone	0478-54-1118
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗
Official site	Open the official site ↗

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Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall

A Katori City hall that shows the floats (dashi) pulled in the Sawara festival. Allow about 40 minutes. Admission is ¥400 for adults and ¥200 for elementary and junior high students, and if you also visit the Ino Tadataka Museum, the combined ticket (¥800 for adults) is ¥100 cheaper per adult. It is in the grounds of Yasaka Shrine, about 15 minutes on foot from JR Sawara Station (Katori City guide to the hall, Japanese).

After the Dashi Float Hall, walk through the townscape back to JR Sawara Station, or take the highway bus from “Yasaka-mae” back to Tokyo.

Facility information checked: November 1, 2026 (Japan time). Prices and hours may change.

Name	Suigo Sawara Dashi Float Hall
Address	I-3368 Sawara, Katori City, Chiba (Yasaka Shrine grounds)
Hours / Closed	9:00–16:30 (last entry around 16:00; closed Mondays, or the next weekday if a holiday; closed December 29–January 1)
Phone	0478-52-4104
Map	Open in Google Maps ↗
Official site	Open the official site ↗