Day 17 5/10/2014

Typhoon Phanfone hit Tokyo and it rained heavily and incessantly all day damping our plans to visit the gardens at the Imperial Palace amongst other things.  We ventured out to Shinjuku train station to work out how to get to Kawaguchiko in the foothills of Mt Fuji the next day.  We were very conspicuous in our rain coats and water proof trousers as every one else just had umbrellas.  There were brolly racks everywhere and plastic covers so nobody dripped water on the subway or train (apart from us!).  Not only was it very orderly it also shows it must rain here as much as it does at home!  The afternoon saw us head off to the Toyko National Museum for a bit of culture and understanding of Japan's long and interesting history especially the Samurai period between the 11th and 19th centuries.  It's amazing to read about events that occurred here in Japan and cross reference this with our own known western history.  After drying out at the hotel (it was still raining cats & dogs) we succumbed to the need for bread and cheese and treated ourselves to pizza and wine at a nearby Italian restaurant.  We went to sleep with the typhoon raging outside.