Back on the move today with a limited express train back into Tokyo, before changing to a local subway down to the southern city port of Yokohama.

The great thing about travelling in Japan is the reliability of the trains and their regularity. We were able to connect from train to tube almost seamlessly and before we knew it we were dropping off our bags in the port area of Yokohama by midday.

Our original plans had been to explore the waterfront and Minatomirai area, however today was a total wash out with the rain remaining constant from late morning onwards.

We did manage to get to Red Brick Warehouse (Renga Soko) a historic old building now turned into shopping, restaurants and event spaces. We took shelter in one of the coffee shops hoping for the weather to improve, but sadly with no success.

After walking past Cosmo World, a small amusement park, home to the famous Cosmos clock 21, a giant ferris wheel we made the decision to head into central Yokohama and take shelter in one of the large shopping malls.

As we walked through the former dockland area of Yokohama, now home to numerous hotels and convention centres, we came across the Cup Noodles Museum, the history of instant noodles and ramen, and made a booking to revisit in a couple of days when we get the opportunity to make our own chicken ramen.

The next stop, and an interlude from our wet walk into the centre, was a short tour of the Nissan Global Headquarters.

As it turns out Nissan originated in Yokohama and the gallery/exhibition showcased from their early days with Datsun right up to the modern electric cars of today.

The opportunity to look inside each car and talk to the staff about the individual cars was a real pleasure for a petrol head like Andy!

After spending an enjoyable 45mins inside the dry of the Nissan exhibition we returned to the wet outside and carried on our walk to the shopping centre. We were on the look out for Sonny Angel accessories, a request from Amelia for her mobile, but sadly the store we’d been recommended didn’t stock them any longer.

Once inside the shopping mall, we ended up in Nike as Andy was keen to replace his now ripped Adidas runners with a new pair. With the aide of a 15% birthday discount (thanks to Michelle for using her incoming big day to achieve this) we walked away with a shiny new pair and some hefty discount compared to the UK price.

As the rain got heavier outside we made the decision to return by tube to the hotel and put off our Saturday night plans for a meal out for tomorrow. Instead we ‘dinned’ at Familymart, a 7eleven lookalike where we feasted on sushi and chicken katsu curry!

As we retired to the world’s smallest hotel room, a new record for us, measuring just 7ft x 12ft including a bathroom, we made a decision that we’d go out for a full day tomorrow and avoid spending any unnecessary time in our ‘cell’!

As tomorrow is a Sunday we plan to spend the day down on the coast at Kamakura, and combine a bit of culture (temples & shrines) with a trip to the beach and a walk around Enoshima Island.