I can't believe that it is September already. Time really flies. Before introducing the topics of this month, I would like to keep on the subject of this mid-summer a bit more.
During the mid-summer, I visited several suburban areas escaping from the urban "heat island". It is said that the temperature in the city is often higher than that in the suburbs due to the heat island phenomenon. The heat island is created by the solar heat absorption of the outer surface of buildings and roads in the city.
My first evacuating place was Akame-Shijuhachitaki Falls in Mie Prefecture, some 490 km west of Tokyo. Akame-Shijuhachitaki is a series of scenic falls on the Takikawa River. Taking a splash from the falls, it was very cool and brisk.
To get to these cool scenic falls, the nearest station is Akameguchi on the Kintetsu Line. I took a limited express train, "Vista-Ex", from Nagoya Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen, and transferred to a local train at Nabari Station. It took about one hour and a half from Nagoya to Akameguchi Station.
Vista-ex is a bi-level limited express train on the Kintetsu Line. Kintetsu has a long tradition of operating bi-level trains. The first generation Vista Car was launched in 1958. Currently, renovated trains of the third generation Vista Car, namely the EMU 30000 series, "Vista-Ex", is the main fleet of the Kintetsu's bi-level limited express.
I enjoyed the scenic falls and trains on the Kintetsu Line.
Official information about the Kintetsu Vista Car:
Official information about the EMU Kintetsu 30000 series (in Japanese):