Boat Tour in the Water City

EMU Kita-Osaka Kyuko 8000 series arrives at Yodoyabashi Station on the Subway Midosuji Line

 

Osaka, also known as the water city, has many bridges crossing rivers. In the Edo Period (1603-1868), there were more than 200 bridges in the city. Osaka was the center of the water transportation system on the Yodo and the other rivers at that time.

Today, water transportation in Osaka has declined. We can't see what it used to be... but wait a minute! Let's join the boat tour. The rivers still have some traces of the past. When I visited Osaka with my family last year, we joined "the boat tour guided by a Rakugo storyteller (traditional Japanese comedian)". It was exciting, as the Rakugo storyteller included jokes to give his explanation a lighthearted tone.

Time has changed. Currently, the main transportation system in Osaka is railways. Specifically, the subway network in the downtown area is well developed. To embark on the boat tour, we took the subway Midosuji Line operated by Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau, and got off at Namba Station. The Midosuji Line was opened in 1933 as the first subway route in Osaka City. Its operating length is 24.5 km. The track is 1,435 mm-size gauge and double. The electric system is 750 V DC the third rail.

Trains on the Midosuji Line are directly operated onto the Kita-Osaka Kyuko Line, therefore, we can also see the trains from the Kita-Osaka Kyuko, such as the EMU 8000 series on the Midosuji Line.
 

Boat tour in Osaka City

More information about Osaka Municipal Transportation Bueau:

http://www.kotsu.city.osaka.lg.jp/foreign/english/subway.html

More information about the Kita-Osaka Kyuko Line:

http://www.kita-kyu.co.jp/en/

Sunrise Express in the Volkerwanderung Season

EMU JR Central 285 series, overnight sleeper train, "Sunrise Express" enters Tokyo Station

Along with "Obon (a Buddhist festival)", Year-end and New Year is the largest holiday season for Japanese people. Many people take holidays, and go back to their hometown to visit their parents, relatives and friends. One day in this "volkerwandering season", I visited Tokyo Station to see what was going on. It was hustle-bustle on platform number 9. Most people were families, who would go back to their hometowns, boarding on the Sunrise Express.

What is the Sunrise Express? It is an overnight sleeper train that has comfortable berthing. Connecting Tokyo, Takamatsu and Izumo-shi, it travels on four JR group railways, namely JR East, JR Central, JR West and JR Shikoku. A 14-car train, the EMU 285 series is operated as the "Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo Express", from Tokyo to Okayama. This train is detached after arriving at Okayama Station. The Sunrise Seto Express (a 7-car train) then runs to Takamatsu; meanwhile, another 7-car train is operated to Izumo-shi as the Sunrise Izumo Express.

For your information, the EMU 285 series is a 1,067 mm gauge size and 1,500 V DC sleeper train owned by JR West and JR Central. A total of 5 sets, 35 units were manufactured in 1998 by Kinki Sharyo, Nippon Sharyo and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. I think that the sleeper EMU, the 285 series, is quite unique. So, I hope that the 285 series will continue to be operated the same as it has been till now.

Boarding on the Sunrise Express, have a nice dream!

The Sunrise Express (Sunrise Seto & Sunrise Izumo) stands at platform number 9 in Tokyo Station

Route map of Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo Express (in Japanese):

http://www.jr-odekake.net/train/sunriseseto_izumo/section.html

More photos of the Sunrise Express:

http://www.jr-odekake.net/train/sunriseseto_izumo/gallery.html

More information about Sunrise Express (Interior photos with captions in Japanese):

http://www.jr-odekake.net/train/sunriseseto_izumo/accommo.html

Nostalgic Station on the Enoden Enoshima Line

EMU Enoden 2000 series travels on the Enoshima Line

 

After joining the public event, "Tankoro Festival", which was held in Gokurakuji Rail Yard, I returned to Gokurakuji Station on the Enoden Line.

Gokurakuji is a small station located in the valley of the Gokurakuji River. If you come from Kamakura boarding on a westbound train, it appears just after passing through Gokurakuji Tunnel. Gokurakuji is normally a quiet station, which has a daily ridership of only about 500 people, but I saw many passengers who joined the Tankoro Festival at the rail yard on that day. This lovely station was opened in 1904. The design of the green colored station-name signboard is quite nostalgic. The station square is also antique. You can see a vermilion-colored old post box on the right hand side of the station building. It is said that cherry trees in full bloom are seen in spring there.

Since it was a sunny afternoon, I changed my mind and enjoyed a stroll for a while instead of going back home directly by train. When I walked along the Enoden's railway track, an EMU 2000 series passed me by. The 2000 series is my favorite, as it has a large window and a destination display for all four seasons on the front. It was launched in 1990 and a total of 3 sets, 6 units have been manufactured so far by Tokyu Sharyo. Its matcha (a kind of Japanese green tea) colored body matches the scenery of historical green Kamakura City.
 

Gokurakuji Station on the Enoden Enoshima Line

 

More information about the Enoden 2000series (in Japanese):
http://www.enoden.co.jp/train/tra_2000.htm

Haruka: Access from Kansai Airport to Osaka City

EMU JR West 281 series, the airport express train, "Haruka", travels on the Hanwa Line

 

There are two international airports in Osaka Prefecture. One of them is Osaka Airport, known as Itami. Another one is Kansai Airport. Kansai is the newer airport constructed in Osaka Bay. It is located 5 km offshore from Izumi-Sano City. If you arrive at Kansai Airport, you can choose from two railway routes to go to downtown Osaka... JR West or Nankai Electric Railway.

JR West's representative airport train is the EMU 281 series, "Haruka (far away)" express. Connecting Kansai Airport and Shin-Osaka, Kyoto and Maibara stations, and it is operated every half an hour on average. The 281 series is a 6 or 9 (6+3)-car train debuted in 1994. A total of 9 sets, 63 units have been manufactured so far by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Kinki Sharyo. It is a 1,067 mm size-gauge and 1,500 V DC train with GTO-VVVF inverter (variable frequency drive) electric control system. The maximum speed of the 281 series is 130km/hour.

I used Haruka to go to Osaka City from Kansai Airport last November. Please note that the Haruka doesn't stop at Osaka Station because it is operated via the Umeda Freight Line. So, I got off at Shin-Osaka and came back to Osaka Station by a local train on the Tokaido Main Line.

When I reached Osaka Terminal, I could see the beautiful deep ultramarine color in the western sky after the sunset. The twilight hour in Osaka was a photogenic period the same as in Tokyo.
 

Night view of the central north square in JR West Osaka Station

 

More information about the EMU JR West 281 series, "Haruka" (in Japanese):

http://www.jr-odekake.net/train/haruka/

More information about Kansai Airport access trains:

http://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/routemap/kansai-airport/

Memorable Station on the Inokashira Line

Set number 1721F of the EMU Keio 1000 series arrives at Takaido Station on the Inokashira Line

 

Happy New Year! The year 2015 has begun. At the opening of New Year, I am going to show you my meorable railway station.

Takaido Station is located on the Keio-Inokashira Line and is close to my kindergarten. Although I went to kindergarten normally by school bus, I sometimes used a train, if the school bus didn't run.

Takaido was a quiet station at that time. All trains were local. No trains passed through this station. There were short and narrow separate platforms on the dual track. Since it is located on a small hill, I could look over the tower of my kindergarten from the platform. The main fleet on the Inokashira Line was an old green colored train without air-conditioners. The boarded floor had the smell of varnish. An old nose suspension drive system generated the unique rattling sound.

Today, Takaido Station has totally changed. The platform has been reconstructed as a wide and spacious island style one, but it has become noisy, because a new highway penetrates under the platform. I can't see the tower of my kindergarten anymore, because the station area has become crowded with buildings. The trains have also totally changed. The latest model, the EMU 1000 series, arrives at and leaves the station all the time. Some of them are express trains, which pass through the station at high speed.

Only a feeling, which I still have the same as my childhood, is "excitement", when the train climbs up the hill and approaches the station. Sparkling in the morning sun, the trains are very beautiful. As the boy, so the man.
 

Set number 1726F of the EMU Keio 1000 series arrives at Takaido Station on the Inokashira Line