Roses look great in May when they are in full bloom, but autumn roses are also attractive. I visited Ikuta Ryokuchi Rose Garden in Kawasaki City last month to see the autumn roses in season.
Ikuta Ryokuchi Rose Garden was opened in 1958 as a part of Mukogaoka Amusement Park by Odakyu Electric Railway. I can retrace my memory to the time when I visited there on a primary school excursion with my teacher and classmates. Although Mukogaoka Amusement Park was closed in 2002 due to a decreasing number of visitors, the rose garden was taken over by Kawasaki City, and continued. As soon as I entered the garden, I could feel the lovely breeze, which was carrying the rose-scented air. I enjoyed red, pink, white and yellow-colored roses in bloom.
To get to this beautiful garden, the nearest station is Mukogaoka-yuen on the Odakyu line. Taking this opportunity, I'm going to show you the double-double track (DDT) of the Odakyu line. Odakyu is one of the busiest railways in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The company decided to increase tracks from double to DDT between Yoyogi-Uehara and Noborito stations in order to alleviate congestion. The construction work took nearly 30 years because of the built-up area, but was eventually completed in 2018. The inner two tracks are used for limited express "Romance Cars" and express trains; meanwhile, the outer tracks are for Semi-express and local trains. To see parallel travelling trains like a race is exciting for rail-fans.
