Double Gondola Lift in Gumma Prefecture

Double gondola of Haruna-san Ropeway and Lake Haruna in Gumma Prefecture

Mt. Haruna is located in the central part of Gumma Prefecture, some 120km North of Tokyo. It is a volcano whose summit is 1,390m above sea level. Because of its beautiful scenery, a lot of sightseers visit there throughout the year. I visited this superb spot with my family at the weekend.

 

To enjoy this volcanic mountain, Haruna-san Ropeway is convenient. Connecting Haruna-kogen and Harunafuji-sancho stations, it was opened in 1958. The operating length is 527m. The height difference between the highest and lowest points of the route is 269m. One of the features of this aerial tramway is its gondola. It is a double gondola to secure transportation capacity. Passenger capacity per cabin is 15; therefore, a total of 30 persons can ride on each trip. It takes only 3 minutes from the mountain foot to the summit. We can look over the blue colored crater lake, Lake Haruna, from the cabin window.

After enjoying the beautiful volcano, we visited a lovely garden, "Iris Hill," near Mt. Haruna. This garden is famous for its beautiful German Iris flowers from May to June. We admired the iris-filled garden, but I myself was personally fascinated by the Chinese peony flowers. Specifically, my favorite ones were the large pure white colored flowers that were fully blooming and shining under the early summer sunshine.

The beautiful garden, volcano, crater lake and unique double gondola... early summer in Gumma Prefecture is a satisfactory spot to visit.

 

Full-blown Chinese peony is seen in the "Iris Hill" in Gumma Prefecture

Suburban Scenary on the Joso Line

DMU Kantetsu 2300 seies arrives at Kokinu Station on the Joso Line

 

Kanto Railway, also known as Kantetsu, is my favorite local railway in Ibaraki Prefecture. They have two independent routes, namely the Joso and Ryugasaki lines. The Joso Line is Kantetsu's main line, which connects Toride and Shimodate cities. Its total operating length is 51.1km. The whole route is un-electrified.

The scenery along the Joso Line has two faces. The southern part of the line stretches through expanding suburban residential quarters, while in the northern part of the route, we can see beautiful idyllic views such as rice paddies and vegetable fields. The contrast of sceneries through the train window between the southern and northern parts of the route is my favorite.

Please look at the photos. They show the suburban sceneries in the southern part of the Joso Line. You can see the double track and residential areas. The size of the houses is larger than those of central Tokyo. The trains operate every 6 minutes during the morning commute; meanwhile, the daytime operation interval is 15 minutes on average. A diesel rail car or 2-car DMU is seen on the track.

The DMU KiHa 2300 series (top photo) and diesel rail car 2200 series (bottom photo) are representative models on the Joso Line. The DMU 2300 series was launched in 2000 as Kantetsu's first DMU model, which has an Electric Commanding Brake (ECB) system. The 2200 series was launched in 1997 as a diesel rail car, which has bolsterless bogies.
 

Diesel rail car Kantetsu 2200 seies arrives at Kokinu Station on the Joso Line

 

More information about the Kantetsu's rolling stock (in Jaanese):

http://www.kantetsu.co.jp/train/syaryo/syaryo_index.html

Rebirth of Springtime in Ochanomizu

EMU Tokyo Metro 02 series passes through a full blown Sakura tree (April, 2014)

 

The season of Sakura (cherry) blossoms in Tokyo has already passed, but I still want to show you something.

Look at the top photo. You can see a full-blown Sakura tree near Ochanomizu Station on the Subway, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line. I introduced this spot last year... but look at this year's Sakura blossoms again. Has it grown? It might just be me.

You can also compare it with the autumn scene of this spot last year. Please look at the following photo. The autumn leaves are also lovely in this spot. Blooming, autumn leaves, then, blooming again... Ochanomizu is my favorite spot to see the different seasons and the rebirth of springtime.

In the meantime, the train in front of the Sakura tree is the EMU Tokyo Metro 02 series. It was launched in 1988 to replace old decrepit models. A total of 59 sets, 336 units have been manufactured so far by Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kinki Sharyo and Tokyu Sharyo. The 02 series was designed based on the 01 series on the Ginza Line, because the track gauge (1,435mm), electric system (600V DC third rail) and the size of the vehicle gauge are same.

The boxy aluminum body with a red stripe is my favorite. Several sets have white colored "sine waves" on the red stripe of their bodies. It is a retro design taken from the old trains such as the 300 and 500 series.
 

EMU Tokyo Metro 02 series passes through autumn leaves (November, 2013)

Increase in Number of the E7 Operation

EMU JR East Shinkansen E7 series stands at Tokyo Station

 

Tokyo Station always reminds me of how quickly the world of railway is changing. It is not easy for me to keep up with these changes. Only three years ago, we could see some unique trains such as the E1 and the 300 series; however, they have already faded out from the track. On the other hand, brand new trains, such as the E6 and E7 series have been introduced in these three years.

JR East's Shinkansen E7 series is a growing train. It was launched on March 15th this year on the Nagano Shinkansen line. The main purpose for the introduction was in preparation for the opening of Hokuriku Shinkansen between Nagano and Kanazawa stations in the spring of next year. The E7 series will gradually replace the present E2-N series.

Currently, number of E7 series trains has increased from 3 to 6 sets. As a result, the number of the E7 series operations increased from 7 to 11 round trips per day. So, it has become easier for rail fans to take pictures of this brand new train. Platform number 21 is a particularly ideal spot to take a picture of this long-nosed train.

It is said that the interior of the E7 series is more sophisticated than those of other Shinkansen trains. Seeing is believing. My next project is taking the E7 series to a hot spring in Nagano Prefecture.
 

Side view of unit number E714-3, the EMU JR East E7 series

 

More information about Nagano Shinkansen:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/routemaps/naganoshinkansen.html

 

More information about the EMU E7 series (in Japanese):

http://www.jreast-shinkansen.com/e7.index.html

http://www.jreast.co.jp/train/shinkan/e7.html

The 10th Anniversary of Suica IC Card

Set number Tou 550 of the EMU JR East 231-500 series stands at Tokyo Station

 

Suica is a prepaid IC card for railway and bus passengers in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was started as a transit card by JR East in 2001. The function of electronic money was added in 2004. Once you get a Suica card and deposit some money, you can take almost all railway and bus routes in Tokyo. It is also convenient for shopping.

Many similar prepaid IC cards are issued throughout Japan. For instance, Pasmo is another IC card in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Kitaca is mainly used in Hokkaido; meanwhile, Pitaca and Icoca are prevalent in Osaka. Currently, a total of ten IC cards are interchangeable in Japan, meaning that once you get an IC card, you can use it on almost all railways and buses. You can also enjoy shopping with it throughout Japan.

On March 22nd this year, JR East celebrated the 10th anniversary of Suica IC Card as electronic money. In commemoration of the anniversary, JR East launched one set of special poster train on the Yamanote Line. You can see many "penguins" on the body of set number Tou-550 of the EMU 231-500 series. These penguins are the mascot characters of Suica card.

The design of the character has been taken from an Adelie penguin. As you may know, an Adelie penguin swims smoothly in the Antarctic Ocean. Similarly, the Suica holders can also take trains and go shopping smoothly throughout Japan.

 

Side view of set Tou-500 of the EMU 231-500 series, a poster train of the Suica 10th anniversary