It's the end of May already. This year's rainy season is approaching day by day in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Before the gloomy season, I traveled to the Izu Peninsula to feel the clear early summer.
My destination was Kawazu Bagatelle Park, about 160 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. It's famous for its French garden with various roses. When I visited there, the peak season of spring rose blossoms was over, but still many kinds of roses were blooming. The French-styled garden was also impressive. It was geometric and symmetric... completely different from Japanese gardens. A palace-styled building in front of the garden and a spire beside the garden were also beautiful. I fully felt the atmosphere of France.
To get to Kawazu Bagatelle Park, the nearest railway station is Kawazu on the Izukyu line. It takes about two hours from Tokyo station on the JR East Tokaido main line by limited express train, "Odoriko". This convenient train is directly operated onto the Izukyu line via Ito station. So, passengers can go to Kawazu station from Tokyo without changing trains. My vehicle was the EMU JR East E257-2000 series. One set of the E257-2000 series is composed of 9 and 5 cars. The 9-car train is called the main set, and operated between Tokyo and Izukyu-Shimoda; meanwhile the 5-car train is called a sub-set, and operated onto the Sunzu line of Izu-Hakone Railway to Shuzenji. Passengers can observe coupling and uncoupling scenes at Atami station on the JR East line.
