On the same day that vast areas of his home town were submerged in muddy flood waters due to Typhoon Hagibis, Mr Masatoshi Matsumoto drove 3½ hours to Yokohama and watched Japan defeat Scotland 28-21 at the Rugby World Cup.

That resounding victory not only brought Japan to the quarter-finals of the tournament - they play South Africa tonight - but also evidently helped to uplift a nation battered overnight by one of its worst storms in history.