It’s mid-spring in Tokyo, and daytime temperatures now exceed 20 degrees Celsius almost every day. The best season of the year has arrived! Lured by the pleasant spring weather, I recently visited Inage Beach in Chiba City, about 35 km east of Tokyo.
To get to this urban beach, the nearest station is Inage-kaigan (Inage Beach) on the JR East Keiyo Line. It’s been a long time since I last took this line, so I decided to take a quick train photo before heading to the beach.
Take a look at the photo above—the E257-500 series limited express “Wakashio,” running on the Keiyo Line in the morning sunlight. Beautiful!
As I’ve mentioned before, the E257-500 series is a 1,500 V DC EMU used for limited express services between Tokyo and the Boso Peninsula. Its nickname is the “Boso Express.” It entered service in 2004, and a total of 19 sets were built by Hitachi, Kinki Sharyo, and Tokyu Sharyo (now J-TREC). Each trainset consists of three motor cars and two trailer cars. The leading car is equipped with a gangway door, allowing it to be coupled with another set during peak seasons.
It has already been 22 years since its debut. Ten sets are still in operation, while the other nine have been converted into the E257-2500 and E257-5500 series EMUs. Keep up the good work, E257-500 series!
After arriving at Inage Beach, I switched gears to another hobby of mine—fossil collecting. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been a lifelong passion. This time, my hunting ground was this artificial sandy beach. In this area, we can sometimes find fossil-bearing rocks that were originally dredged from the floor of Tokyo Bay.
Take a look at the photo below—this was my find of the day: a fossilized large clam? (Saxidomus purpuratus?). It is a large (11 cm long), thick, and hefty bivalve. The smaller bivalves beside it are fossils of dock cockles (Glycymeris yessoensis). Beautiful! Hello, fossils! Welcome back to the world above ground!
That day, I was able to serve a double purpose on the Keiyo Line.
