Day 66 5 October Tokyo

Today we had breakfast and met a young couple from Wisconsin who looked like they might have won the trip in a competition, as they definitely didn't fit the demographic. Way too young and far too mobile. We chatted during breakfast and they, like us, wore masks during the cruise. They seemed very nice. 

We took a taxi to the National Museum and that went fairly smoothly. It just started to rain a little as we arrived.

It was somewhat crowded, but people did take the time to read a lot of the display labels so sometimes you had to wait a while.

Clothing design of the Ainu people who were the indigenous people of Japan. 

An upcoming exhibition later this year; we may have to come back.

A terracotta horse tomb object from the 6th Century.

These are a modern copy of 5th-6th Century shoes. Only if you are the emperor; and only if you are dead!

A clay figure with goggle eyes 1000-100 BCE.

Cypress Tree screen 16th Century.

Samurai armour.

An elaborate Japanese screen.

A 17th Centry bowl with a kingfisher. It has been broken but then repaired with a traditional method of kintsugi (gold mending). An artisan has glued it back together with lacquer and then dusted with gold powder for effect. The Japanese appreciate imperfection in perfection. 

Example of Japanese art.

An 18th Century Kimono with Cherry Blossoms, Chrysanthemums and flower carts.

A guardian for a tomb.

 A Chinese Ming dynasty 16th Century water pitcher. Obviously not a cheap Chinese import.

It was raining lightly when we left the museum at 2.45 pm and it took about 10 minutes to flag a taxi down, so we were quite lucky. I had a map with our hotel circled but an address in Japanese would have helped him as his English was imperfect and my Japanese non-existent. Both drivers we had were not mucking around and seem to drive us as fast as possible (legally) to our destination. Both trips cost just over $40 and it was money well spent.

Not having had lunch, we took a short walk to a bakery and had cappuccinos with a citrus cake and a fudge brownie. The food items were of high quality and the price comparable to here, or slightly better actually.