Thursday 19 March 2015

Strawberry Road on the Sobu Main Line

EMU JR East 255 series stands at Tokyo Station (Yokosuka-Sobu Line, Underground Platform 2) 
 
Winter has gone and spring is here in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The maximum daytime temperature is more than 10 degrees Celsius every day. Let's enjoy a stroll on the weekend. I visited Sammu City in Chiba Prefecture, some 80 km east of Tokyo with my family. Our target was strawberry, which was a fruit in season in this area. We headed to so-called "Strawberry Road" in the city.

What is Strawberry Road? It is an area where strawberry farms are clustered. They are small scale and operated by families. We dropped in on one such farm and enjoyed strawberry picking. Strawberries were cultivated in PVC greenhouses, which were kept around 25 degrees Celsius. The red and ripe strawberries were grown in abundance. They were very sweet and fragrant.

To get to Strawberry Road, we took the JR East Sobu Main Line from Tokyo Station (underground platform 2), and got off at Narutoh Station. It took about one hour by the limited express train, "Shiosai (sound of the surf)".

Our vehicle was the EMU 255 series that day. The 255 series was launched in 1993 to replace the old models such as the 183 series. One set of the 255 series is composed of 9 cars. A total of 5 sets, 45 units have been manufactured so far by Tokyu and Kinki Sharyo.

The sweet strawberry and the comfortable train... the trip to Sammu City was a great deal of enjoyment.
 
Strawberry farm near Narutoh Station on the Sobu Main Line