Narita

If you come to Japan the first railway station you will see - apart from the platform at the Tokyo International Airport air terminal of course - is Narita town station.

It is almost ten years to the day since our Tokyo-bound 'Narita Express' pulled up at Platform 1 (where I'm standing) on our first trip to Japan. I was astonished just how 'English' the place looked, even down to the platform canopies and railings.

Narita is junction. A double track main line comes in from Tokyo here from the south west, and to the north a busy single track route heads towards Choshi. A line diverges west towards the main line for Mito, and of course just north of the station the line to the airport heads off to the east. By Japanese standards it isn't a busy place but you'll see around six trains an hour.

Here's the Tokyo bound Narita Express heading non-stop through Platform 2 and slowing for the crossovers to the south of the station. In fifty minutes the passengers will be getting out at Tokyo central station.