Saturday, March 30, 2013

Odakyu Odawara Line

Our base is situated about a 5 minute walk from the Sobudai-mae station on the Odakyu Odawara line.  This line runs between Tokyo and Odawara so it's super convenient for us when we want to get out and sight see.  I realized the other day that although I have jumped on the train at Sobudai-mae and road all the way to Tokyo or Odawara hundreds of times, I've not seen much of what is in between.  I know this idea is a little late in the game but I decided I want to visit every station on the line, all 47 of them, before we leave here (in approximately 125 days but we're not talking about that because it makes me cry)!  I made a list (I seriously love lists, in case you haven't figured that out yet) and I had already spent time at 12/47 so I have 35 left.  
  1. Shinjuku
  2. Minami-Shinjuku
  3. Sangūbashi
  4. Yoyogi-Hachiman
  5. Yoyogi-Uehara
  6. Higashi-Kitazawa
  7. Shimo-Kitazawa
  8. Setagaya-Daita
  9. Umegaoka
  10. Gōtokuji
  11. Kyōdō
  12. Chitose-Funabashi
  13. Soshigaya-Ōkura
  14. Seijōgakuen-Mae
  15. Kitami
  16. Komae
  17. Izumi-Tamagawa
  18. Noborito
  19. Mukōgaoka-Yūen
  20. Ikuta
  21. Yomiuri-Land-mae
  22. Yurigaoka
  23. Shin-Yurigaoka
  24. Kakio
  25. Tsurukawa
  26. Tamagawagakuen-mae
  27. Machida
  28. Sagami-Ōno
  29. Odakyū-Sagamihara
  30. Sōbudai-mae
  31. Zama
  32. Ebina
  33. Atsugi
  34. Hon-Atsugi
  35. Aikō-Ishida
  36. Isehara
  37. Tsurumaki-Onsen
  38. Tōkaidaigaku-mae
  39. Hadano
  40. Shibusawa
  41. Shin-Matsuda
  42. Kaisei
  43. Kayama
  44. Tomizu
  45. Hotaruda
  46. Ashigara
  47. Odawara


I must clarify that by "visit" I mean spend some time exploring the area, not just go to the station, snap a photo, and carry on to the next one.  I want to see the town (or lack there of) and walk the roads and have a meal there or shop at a local shop.  I want to really experience each station.  Between this and my 30 while 30 list, I will try not to overwhelm you all with list recap posts but I'm hoping to share some of the more exciting towns with you all.  Most of these will probably be lunch time adventures alone or with whatever friends I can drag along but today, even though the weather sucked, Jason and I went out to check of Tamagawagakuen-mae (I'm finally at a point where these words don't totally intimidate me and I can pronounce them with little or no difficulty).

The streets of Tamagawa were beautifully decorated with these flower tile mosaics every few feet.  

Fun flowers on the street

A "Jesus School"...kind of curious exactly what this is...

Our Japanese is still pretty awful and somehow we screwed up a basic food order.  We had intended on sharing one of these sets but accidentally ordered two.  We were NOT that hungry but the food was good.

I love fun reflections and this building gave us exactly that.

A train leaving the station.

Jason has perfected the rail slide but I don't think the Japanese think it's as cute as we do.

Like I said, the weather sucked (it was cold and damp) but we had a great time exploring the streets of Tamagawa.  Can't wait to explore the rest of the stations!




2 comments:

Chantal said...

Well good luck!! It sounds like a fun goal!

Emily said...

This is such a fun idea! Makes me want to explore the Sotetsu line :]