It's already late August, but the lingering summer heat is still intense. The maximum daytime temperature is over 35 degrees Celsius every day in Tokyo. Avoiding direct sunlight, I’m enjoyed a night-time walk in the metropolitan area.
My destination this time is Harumi Port Park. It was a part of the athletes' village during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. There are park fountains, a café, a playground and a seaside terrace that overlooks the Rainbow Bridge and the central Tokyo waterfront area. I could also see a wordmark monument “TOKYO” lit up with white light (see the photo below). The see breeze was nice and refreshing at night.
To get to this port park with beautiful views, the nearest station is Kachidoki on the Toei-Ooedo line. This route is known as “a linear motor subway line”. Linear motor technology is adopted for the train driving system. A linear motor is an electric motor that doesn't have a shaft. It moves in a straight line, while a conventional motor has a rotary movement. This technology allowed downsizing of the tunnel section. The route was partially opened between Hikarigaoka and Nerima (3.8 kilometers) in 1991. Then, it was extended to Tochomae (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building) in 2000. Currently, the route consists of the circle section (Tochomae - Ryogoku - Tochomae, 28.6 kilometers) and the branch section (Hikarigaoka - Tochomae, 12.1 kilometers). The total operation length is 40.7 kilometers. Two kinds of trains, namely the EMU 12-000 (see the top photo) and the 12-600 series, are operated on the line.
