Long layover wait?

Hello! If everything goes well I'll be going to Japan for the first time next year early March and hopefully I'll be purchasing my plane ticket next week. I'll be flying in to Tokyo and then transferring to Sendai. This is my first time going abroad in general and having never been through customs I'm curious about timeframes. I understand that it really depends on a lot of factors how long going through customs take; the flights I'm seeing either have a one hour layover in Tokyo or 3 hours. Would it be fine to stick with the one hour and get customs done in time to catch my connectio (and get some money exchanged?)??
Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

Is there a transfer of airports in this itinerary? Are you landing at NRT and taking off from HND? You need about 3 hours to be a little safe for such a connection, 4 hrs would be better. More info is needed to answer your question.

Hi! Sorry bout that! Itinerary is looking as follows: from Florida to either Houston or New York; land in Narita airport, then take another flight to Sendai airport.

The flights I've seen, the shortest wait in Narita is a little over an hour, and 3 hours being the longest layover wait.

I hope I cleared this up. Thank you very much.

Did you check all the flights from one airline (meaning THEY suggested that transfer), or did you look them up separately?

In any case, if it is a combination of a regular international flight till Narita, then a domestic flight from Narita to Sendai, then you will be clearing immigration at Narita. In that case, I don�ft think one hour would be sufficient, considering immigration clearance, picking up your luggage, and going through customs.
In case for some reason it is a �gthrough�h international flight all the way till Sendai including that Narita – Sendai leg, that has been suggested by the airline, then there might be a chance that is OK�c

One more thing, just as John suggested, please be sure that it is from Houston/New York to Narita, then from NARITA to Sendai, because Tokyo has two airports, and it if from the other Tokyo airport to Sendai, there is no way you make it with the 1 hour thing.

Its only 2 hours by train why fly ?

@Laurie Gaston
Its only 2 hours by train why fly ?

Probably because from Narita airport to Sendai station it is actually about 3 h and around 13,000 yen.
But yeah, with a 3 h layover train might be quicker, but you have to transfer, move all your luggage, so I can see why a flight might be more convenient.
To PP, immigration to Japan is generally quite far. Nothing to compare to the wait that you regularly get when traveling to the US. So sometimes it might be as quick as 5 min, but you need to walk there, pick up your luggage ... I would do the 1 h layover ONLY if it is the airline that sells the ticket as is. Then they are essentially responsible for trying to make it happen or rebooking you if they fail.

@Likebike is right. If the flights are sold as a package by the same airline then they think that the connection is possible and they will do all they can to ensure you make it ( I have experience of this, without assistance from JAL I would never have made it) . If you are booking the flights separately then take the longer layover.

Thank you for your answers everyone! It is from the USA to Narita and then from Narita to Sendai. It's also a package from the same airline, but this being my first time traveling like this and by myself I'm gonna stick with the 3 hour layover. I definitely don't want to stress myself out feeling super rushed, even with a guarantee.

Thank you!

Do make sure that you are not losing money by paying more for the trip to SDJ than you would for a trip to Tokyo plus transportation to Sendai (you may or may not think that the convenience is worth the extra cost, but it can't hurt to know what you're paying for).

Actually if it is a set of ticket it might be more convenient to take the 1 h layover because you most likely will be met at the gate by a ANA/JAL employee you will ferry you to your Sendai flight.

as @Likebike says you will get help from the airline to make the connection and in the case of a delay they will get you on the later flight anyway. I'd do the 1 hour transfer in these circumstances. There really is nothing to lose.

Hi!

This past June I flew NYC to Narita to Itami, my flight from JFK arrived in Narita at 14:40 and my next flight left at 16:55. I had so much time of sitting in Narita waiting for that flight, I regretted having so much time because there is very little in Narita on the domestic side once you go through security and we were really bored. I was on JAL and I didn't need any support to make the connection at all because I had so much time. It was really easy re-checking my bags and then taking an escalator to security to go back to the domestic side. There was no line at security when I went through.

In July '18 I flew ANA from Narita to LAX and then changed to a domestic flight to Vegas. My ticket was not one ticket because the Vegas part was added on later when I decided to visit family there vs. in SoCal. My ANA flight left close to 2 hours late, and I still had ANA reps meet me when I got off the plane to help me make my connection. (Honestly, the slowest part was waiting for my bags...) In that case I ended up making my flight with a good 40 minutes to spare and I had to walk from the International Terminal to Terminal 6 with my bags and my kid because I couldn't easily just re-check through (like I did with JAL when flying Narita to Itami.)

If JAL thinks you can do it in an hour, I would do it.

@PPs Just FYI, the only flights from Tokyo to SDJ are from NRT (there are no HND-SDJ flights), and they are run by ANA or its partner Ibex (JAL doesn't do it). They are mostly aimed at people like OP that connect with an international flight, but they can be booked independently as well.

Thank you everyone for your help! I'll keep this in mind for when I go purchase my flight!