Do you have a tradition of visiting ancestral graves in your country? In Japan, yes. Many people do it twice a year in spring and autumn honoring their ancestors. From our perspective, it is not so much a religious activity as a custom. Anyway, I recently visited my maternal ancestors’ grave in Yanaka of Tokyo Metropolis. Yanaka is famous for many cemeteries.
After updating my ancestors on how things are going, I enjoyed strolling around. First, I found myself drawn to Shimogoindenbashi (Shimogoinden Bridge) in front of Nippori Station for the first time in ten years. As I posted before, Shimogoindenbashi is well known as a train viewing spot. JR East’s 12 tracks are seen from the bridge. A total of 2,500 trains run under the bridge per day, so, we can enjoy train viewing continuously there. The bridge was crowded with railfans, families and inbound tourists. Please take a look at the top photo. I shot the JR East’s E7 series shinkansen train running under the bridge. I've been taking pictures of the E7 series repeatedly, but there's something special about a long-distance train approaching its goal, Tokyo Terminal. The E7 series… thank you for your hard work.
Another spot I visited was a scenic cemetery on a hill near Nippori Station. I could see an airport access train, EMU AE series “Skyliner” traveling on the elevated track of the Keisei Line (see the photo below). I have passed through this cemetery many times, but this was the first time for viewing trains. Was it a guidance from my ancestors as a token of their appreciation?
