Tuesday 19 June 2012

Hydrangea on the Keio-Inokashira Line


Hydrangea flowers and EMU Keio 1000 series near Meidaimae Station

It is rainy season again. On June 9th, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that this year's rainy season had begun in Tokyo. Although it is a gloomy period before midsummer, Tokyoites can enjoy viewing several kinds of beautiful flowers, such as hydrangeas and irises in this season.

As I introduced in my blog on June 26th, 2011, in this season, the railway track of the Keio-Inokashira Line is one of the undiscovered hydrangea viewing spots. This railway company has been working on planting hydrangeas on the embankments of the railways to prevent slope failure and protect the environment since 1991. Nowadays, we can enjoy seeing colorful hydrangea blossoms at the side of the railways specifically around Shimo-Kitazawa, Shin-Daita, Higashi-Matsubara and Meidaimae stations in June (see the top photo).

This year, I received good news. The night lights of Hydrangea in Higashi-Matsubara Station were resumed two years later (see the bottom picture). As I mentioned in my previous article, the night lights were cancelled last year, because of the electric power shortage, which was caused by the nuclear power plant disasters that followed the giant earthquake and tsunami. So, the revival of night lights is a symbol of recovery for rail-fans in Tokyo.

The EMU Keio 1000 series suits these beautiful hydrangea flowers along the track. Each train set shows a different color on the front mask and the side lines. Colorful trains and colorful flowers, it is the best season on the Keio-Inokashira Line.

Illuminated hydrangea flowers and EMU Keio 1000 series at Higashi-Matsubara Station