The cherry blossom season has come and gone, followed by the roses, and now hydrangea season has arrived in Tokyo.
I jokingly call myself a "honeybee railfan" because I'm always buzzing around in search of flowers and trains. I’m not a native English speaker, but I hope the expression sounds natural. As a train enthusiast, I’d like to share a few scenes where trains and hydrangeas come together in early summer.
This year, I visited Shin-daita and Nishi-eifuku on the Keio Inokashira Line to enjoy the blossoms. As I have mentioned before, I was born in a western suburb of Tokyo along this railway line, so it holds a special place in my heart.
Since 1991, Keio Corporation has been planting hydrangeas on railway embankments to help prevent slope erosion and contribute to environmental conservation. Today, colorful hydrangeas can be seen not only on the embankments but also at many locations along the line during June.
Please take a look at the photo above. Set 1754 of Keio’s 1000 series EMU is passing a bank of hydrangeas in full bloom near Shin-daita Station. This spot is located on a road bridge crossing over the tracks. At first glance, it seemed like an ideal photo location, but there was one challenge—a fine-meshed safety fence. Using a large-aperture lens was virtually impossible.
For a moment, I panicked. Then I pulled out my smartphone and concentrated on timing the shot. I just managed to get it—and I was delighted with the result.
Incidentally, Set 1754 was carrying a special round headmark reading “Takao,” promoting tourism to Mt. Takao on the Keio Line.
Now, please take a look at the photo below. I took it near Nishi-eifuku Station, a location I had wanted to visit for some time. The challenge here was that the hydrangeas are planted on the south side of the tracks, making photography difficult under strong sunlight.
Fortunately, the sky was overcast when I visited, allowing me to capture Set 1783 of the 1000 series EMU passing the hydrangeas at their peak. The flowers were wonderfully vibrant.
As luck would have it, Set 1783 was displaying a special round headmark reading “Ajisai” (Hydrangea). Perfect timing!
I thoroughly enjoyed photographing the combination of full-bloom hydrangeas and trains on the Keio Inokashira Line.
