Autumn is deepening in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The leaves on the city’s trees have just started to turn shades of red, yellow, and brown. I recently visited Seseragi Park in Yokohama City and enjoyed a peaceful stroll. The name “Seseragi” means murmuring in Japanese, and as the name suggests, small streams gently flow through the wooded area.
Please take a look at the photo below. Here it is—the former Uchino Family House. This wooden house with a copper-clad roof was built sometime between the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s not a famous tourist attraction, but it has a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere, surrounded by the soft colors of autumn leaves.
Of course, I can’t end this post without mentioning the railway side of things—since this is a railway blog, after all! To reach Seseragi Park, the nearest station is Nakamachidai on the Blue Line of the Yokohama Municipal Subway. The Blue Line was opened in 1972 as the city’s first subway route. Today, it stretches 40.4 kilometers between the Shonandai and Azamino terminals. The track gauge is 1,435 millimeters, and the line is electrified at 750 volts DC using a third-rail system.
The EMU 3000R series (see the photo above) is one of the main train types operating on the line. It was introduced in 2004 and is equipped with an IGBT variable-frequency drive and a pure electric braking system. You can see the Yokohama Transportation Bureau’s mascot, Hamarin, on the front of the train, along with another large round sticker reading “Green × Expo 2027”. I’d like to introduce a special wrapped train to promote this forthcoming event in my next post. To be continued…
