New coloring design of the EMU Kintetsu 30000 series, Vista-EX
I visited Nara City with my family for the first time in five years. Nara is the main city in Nara Prefecture, some 550 kilometers west of Tokyo. It was Japan's capital from 710 to 784. The ancient capital, named Heijo-kyo, was located west of the present downtown area in Nara City. It was a preplanned city with checkerboard streets.
What was new with this historical city? Firstly, there were a lot of foreign tourists visiting the city. The same as Mt. Fuji, the number of foreign visitors to Nara has obviously increased in recent years. We could hear many kinds of foreign languages in the city. Secondly, we found a procession of wild deer in the downtown area in the early morning. They appeared one after another, and headed to the public park perhaps to have breakfast. We saw a precious scene. An early bird catches the worm, doesn't it?
To get to Nara, we rode Kintetsu's limited express train, Vista-EX (the EMU 30000 series), from Kashihara-jingumae to Yamato-Saidaiji station. We reserved seats on the second floor of the bi-level car in advance. It was the right decision to enjoy the scenery of countryside through the windows. Before boarding the train, I found that the coloring design of Vista-EX was not what it used to be five years ago. The body stripes were changed from ultramarine to gold colors. The new design was definitely my cup of tea.
To be continued...
Wild deer are seen in the downtown area of Nara City in the early morning
Official information about the Kintetsu limited express trains: