Wednesday 31 May 2017

Corn Poppy Field on the Joban Line

JR East E531 series arrives at Matsudo Station on the Joban Line

Late spring is the season for corn poppy blossoms. We can see the multi-colored flowers here and there in the Tokyo metropolitan area. I remember that I posted a photo of a corn poppy field on the Chichibu Railway in 2012 in this blog. 

This year, I headed east. My destination was the Edogawa River in Chiba Prefecture, some 20km from Tokyo. Along the riverside, we can see a vast corn poppy field there. It has been lovingly cared for and planted by local people. The blossoms are red, pink and white colored. Full blooming corn poppies were shaking with the wind in the sunshine. Many people were visiting to enjoy this late spring event. 

To get to this flower lover's paradise, JR East Joban Line is convenient. I got on the rapid service train from Ueno Terminal in the downtown area. After twenty minutes or so, I could reach Matsudo, the nearest station to the field. It was good to see the EMU E531 series, which is an AC-DC dual system train on the Joban Line. This train is composed of 10 cars in main sets, with 5 cars in sub sets. Usually, it is operated as a 15-car train (a main set + a sub set) on the line. The gleaming stainless steel body with a dark blue colored stripe is an outward characteristic of the E531 series.

Enjoying railways and visiting beautiful places on the weekend, that's what's keeping me going.

Corn poppy field near Matsudo Station on the JR East Joban Line