Here we are still in the middle of the gloomy rainy season in Tokyo. We have been having hot and humid days. I'm thinking of refraining from strolling in this season, but once the sun's rays peep through the clouds, I can't help going out.
My destination this time was Sakura Lavender Land in Chiba Prefecture, about 40 kilometers east of Tokyo. It's a vast lavender field, where the purple color spreads over. Lavender has long green stalks topped with a bunch of small purple flowers. They are extremely fragrant, and help me to be relaxed. To my joy, admission to Sakura Lavender Land is free... thank you.
To get to this purple world, the nearest railway station is Joshidai (Women's University) on the Yukarigaoka line. This route is a rubber-tyred automated guideway transit system operated by a real estate company, Yamaman. It looks like an attraction in an amusement park, but it's an authentic railway under the Railway Business ACT. The route is composed of the main and the annular sections. The starting station is Yukarigaoka, which is a transfer station to the Keisei line. All the trains leave Yukarigaoka station, run counterclockwise on the annular section, and come back to Yukarigaoka terminal. The total line length is only 4.1 kilometers. The track is single and the electric system is 750 V DC. 3-car trains, named the EMU 1000 series, are operated every 20 minutes on average.
I enjoyed both the beautiful field and the lovely train.
