The Japan Meteorological Agency made an announcement that this year's rainy season ended on July 18th in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which is one day earlier than usual. It’s the beginning of midsummer in Tokyo.
I visited an urban oasis in Tokyo. That's Senzoku Pond in Ota Ward, about 10 kilometers southwest of the city center. This pond was originally a spring. If we look back at the history, it was developed as a precinct of Senzoku-hachiman Shrine in 860. The spring was then changed to a pond for irrigation. Currently, Senzoku Pond is designated as a Scenic Beauty by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. When I visited there, it was very hot around the pond, but the wind across the pond was very comfortable. Midsummer was right there.
To get to this urban oasis, the nearest railway station is Senzokuike on the Tokyu-Ikegami line. The Ikegami line is a short commuter route connecting Kamata and Gotanda. Its route length is 10.9 kilometers. Taking this opportunity, I'm going to show you one of the trains being operated on the Ikegami line... namely the EMU 1000-1500 series. This model originally debuted in the early 1990s on the Tokyu-Toyoko line. After operating for about 20 years, 30 units were moved to the Tamagawa and Ikegami lines after modification, under the new name of 1000-1500 series. Its coloring is basically the same as that of the 7000 series. Two single-armed pantographs equipped on the roof of car number 2 are a good accent.
