Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
Full route opening period April 15th – November 30th, 2018
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is known as the “Roof of Japan”. The route passes through the dynamic scenery of Mt. Tateyama in the Japan Alps. It is traversed using a variety of vehicles with an elevation change of 2400 meters from Toyama Prefecture to Nagano Prefecture.
The operating period for 2018 is as follows,
Full route (Dentetsu Toyama – Shinano Omachi): April 15th to November 30th,2018
Partial route (Dentetsu Toyama – Midagahara): April 10th to 14th,2018
The route is closed from December 1st to April 9th.
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a unique and spectacular route through the Northern Japan Alps which is traversed by various means of transportation including cablecars, trolley buses and a ropeway. Completed in 1971, the route connects Toyama City in Toyama Prefecture with Omachi Town in Nagano Prefecture. The section between Tateyama Station and Ogizawa is closed to private vehicles. It is completely inaccessible from December to mid April.
The main attraction of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is the magnificent scenery of the Tateyama Mountain Range, part of the Chubu Sangaku National Park. Visitors can enjoy varying vistas during different seasons of the year. In spring, accumulated snow, especially around the upper sections of Midagahara and Murodo, form a majestic snow corridor whose snow walls reach up to 20 meters high. A section of the snow corridor around Murodo is open to pedestrians usually from mid April to mid June.
Summer and autumn attract visitors with beautiful landscapes, alpine flowers (especially around June through August) and autumn leaves. The fall colors typically reach their best around Murodo and Daikanbo from late September to early October, and they gradually descend the mountain slopes, arriving at the lower elevations from late October to early November.
The Northern Japan Alps lie on the border between Toyama and Nagano prefectures. The Alpine Route crosses this mountain range and can be accessed from the major cities of each prefecture.
The Alpine route includes many unique vehicles. These vehicles and the seasonal changes in scenery are the main attraction of the route.
More Information
JR Pass: Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto Area
Tateyama Kurobe Recommended Itinerary
Come experience an amazing wall of snow! Depart from Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya for a day trip, or stay the night at a hot spring. Don’t miss it!