2025年6月8日（日）、午前11時に起きた。午前11時半に家を出て、JR横浜線の中山駅へ向かった。
駅で友人と合流し、恩田川沿いを歩いた。恩田川は、横浜線とほぼ並行して流れている川だ。東急こどもの国線や小田急小田原線の列車、そして丹沢の大山などを眺めつつ、私たちは横浜線の古淵駅まで歩いた。
個人的に驚いたのは、恩田川の両岸の景色だ。水田のほか、トウモロコシ、ナス、クリなどの畑が広がっている。横浜市内とは思えないほど、のどかな地域だった。
散歩の途中、見知らぬ男性が私たちに声をかけてきた。望遠レンズ付きのカメラを手にしたおじさんだった。私もカメラを持っていたため、彼は私に親近感を覚えたのかもしれない。
おじさんはカワセミの観察が趣味だそうだ。恩田川に棲むカワセミの写真を撮り続けており、私たちにこの鳥の生態を詳しく説明してくれた。とても興味深い話で、最終的に私は彼の写真集を購入してしまった。
On Sunday, June 8th, 2025, I got up at 11:00 a.m. and left home at 11:30 a.m. to head to Nakayama Station on the Yokohama Line.
After meeting up with a friend at the station, we took a leisurely walk along the Onda River, which runs roughly parallel to the train tracks. We enjoyed views of Mt. Oyama and passing trains, including those of the Tokyu Kodomonokuni Line and the Odakyu Odawara Line, and eventually ended our walk at Kobuchi Station on the same line.
What surprised me today was the presence of farmland along both sides of the river—fields that seemed to be growing rice, corn, eggplants, chestnuts, and more. Although we had walked through Yokohama City, which is generally regarded as an urban area, the scenery felt like the countryside—a setting I find deeply comforting.
Along the way, an elderly man carrying a camera with a long telephoto lens struck up a conversation with me. Perhaps he felt a sense of camaraderie, seeing that I also had a camera. He told us that he’s passionate about observing and photographing kingfishers that live along the river. He also explained in detail how the beautiful birds breed. I found his stories fascinating, and ended up buying his photobook for 1,000 yen.