Evening River

Not far from the metropolis of Tokyo and Yokohama, you can visit rural areas in the Kanto area such as Ayase, Ebina, Hiratsuka, Isehara, Hadano, Minamiashigara, and Odawara.

Most of these towns have all of the modern conveniences you'd expect for comfortable daily living. However, you take the time to get out of your car, or walk 10 to 15 minutes from the local station, you can find small local rivers, brooks, and irrigation canals that feed water into the rice paddies. 

Occasionally, the water is clean enough for various wildlife to survive in such waters. Here are some shots take at such a small river only 10 minutes from a rural train station in Kanagawa.

River [Pentax K-50] 1/320 sec., f/4.5, ISO 400 #river #evening #Japan #川 #夕方

Reflections of the sunset on the edge of the water as it falls over a small irrigation dam. The water from this river is fed directly into rice paddies.

Ripples [Pentax K-50] 1/200 sec., f/4.5, ISO 400 #river #evening #Japan #川 #夕方

No, this is not a shark nor the Loch Ness Monster. Simple ripples a a big koi fish as it forages near the water's surface.

Carp [Pentax K-50] 1/30 sec., f/4, ISO 400 #river #evening #carp #Japan #川 #夕方 #鯉

When I got closer to the river to take these shots, several other koi fish (carp) gathered directly below me. It makes me wonder if maybe someone from the neighborhood feeds the fish bread crumbs or something on a regular basis. They seemed to react as if it were "feeding time."

Carp [Pentax K-50] 1/30 sec., f/4, ISO 400 #river #evening #carp #Japan #川 #夕方 #鯉

Koi fish are typically found in ponds at public gardens or in the yard of a private home. I think the more popular koi are brighter colors of whites, yellows, oranges, and hues of red. These dark blue or gray koi might not be of the same variety found in such ponds. I wonder though if they are a natural species to these waters.

Carp [Pentax K-50] 1/40 sec., f/4.5, ISO 400 #river #evening #carp #Japan #川 #夕方 #鯉

I love this time of day when the light is just bright enough to not require a flash, but dark enough to create nice shadows and deeper colors. I have never touched a koi before, so I wonder if they are as slippery as they look in this shot. 

River sunset [Pentax K-50] 1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400 #river #evening #sunset #Japan #川 #夕方 #日没

Downriver, the sunset is reflecting of the water's surface. During this time of year, the rivers are quite full as rice farmers have set up several dams to raise the water high enough to flood their rice paddies. 

River [Pentax K-50] 1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 400 #river #evening #sunset #Japan #川 #夕方 #日没

If you look closely, you can see the water master's hut reflected in the water surface. Inside the hut there seems to be a small motor to raise the device for damming the water. Maybe someday I'll be fortunate enough to catch the dam during actual operation. 

Are you interested in living in a rural part of Japan? Have you become a little tired of the bustling commotion of living in a vibrant city with lights on all night long? Do you wish you could see the stars on a clear, crisp, autumn night? 

Give us a call at Rent Life and we can help you find the perfect apartment just far away enough from the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan area, but close enough to a commuter train station for your daily commuting needs. You are also more than welcome to visit our office near Shin-Yokohama Station. We have a lovely model room featuring an integrated kitchen system using untreated lumber from trees grown locally in Nagano Prefecture, the homebase of our company's operations.

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