After cherry blossoms falling from the trees, peony flowers have started to bloom in Tokyo. I went to Machida Peony Garden in Machida City, about 40 kilometers southwest of the center of Tokyo Metropolis. Along with the garden of Nishiarai-daishi temple, Machida Peony Garden is famous for its beautiful peony flowers from April to May. What jumped into my eyes there was various colored flowers. They were red, pink, yellow, purple and white-colored. Specifically, my favorite ones were the large yellow and pink-colored flowers, which were fully blooming and shining under the spring sunlight. The red-colored Japanese traditional parasol matched these peony flowers.
I can't be written off here as this is a railway blog. To get to this beautiful peony garden, the nearest station is Machida on the Odakyu line. Taking this opportunity, I'm going to show you one of the trains being operated on the Odakyu line. The JR East E233-2000 series is a commuter train directly operated from the JR East Joban line onto the Odakyu line via the subway Chiyoda line. It was commissioned in 2009 to replace the old 207-900 and the 203 series. A total of 18 sets, 180 units, were built by Tokyu Sharyo. The E233-2000 series has narrower bodies than those of the standard E233 series. It's because the vehicle limit of the subway Chiyoda line is smaller than that of the JR East and Odakyu lines. I hope that you will understand the variety of trains in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
