The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a route through the Northern Japan Alps from Toyama City in Toyama Prefecture all the way to Omachi in Nagano Prefecture. The route is made up of transportation by train, cable care, ropeways, and trolley buses. The route is open each year from early spring to late fall. From December to mid- April, the route is inaccessable due to heavy snow. 

The Tateyama Mountains are the main atttraction of the route, and the mountain range is part of the Chubu Sangaku National Park.

In the spring, snow from the winter forms snow walls that are up to 20 feet high, which is one of the most popular attractions of the route. 

 

How the walls are created

In late January, the first step in the snow removal work, which is to find a path, begins. While checking the location of the road with GPS, a bulldozer is used to dig out the snow-covered road little by little.

After digging about one meter, a rotary snowplow specially designed for the Alpine Route, with a blowing capacity nearly twice that of a normal snowplow, is used to cut through the wall of snow.

 

Tateyama Kurobe Snow Wall Festival

It will be held from the mid April to the end ofJune at Tateyama Murododaira, Tateyama Toll Road, and Daikanbo Station. Various events will be held, including the main event, the Yuki-no-Otani Walk.

 

Other highlights

Another snow corridor connecting the rooftop of Murodo Terminal and Tateyama Nature Conservation Center is open every day! At Daikanbo Station, next to Murodo Station, there will also be events such as a "snow pocket", and a "snow tunnel".

 

Summer in the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

In summer, the greenery of the landscape and alpine flowers create impossibly scenic backdrops. 

 

Autumn in the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

In the fall, the colors of the leaves on the mountain slopes make the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route most popular in the autumn season. 

The temperatures on the route are mild in summer and early autumn, but in late autumn and early spring it can get very cold. 

The hiking available on the route ranges from beginner to expert, and there are a variety of trails across the region for all experience levels. Many hikers choose a route based on a number of paths and work their way across the route, staying in mountain huts and camping along the way.