Tateyama Kurobe Mountain Route

The mountain route uses a range of different transport to take tourists from Ogizawa to Toyama via Mount Tateyama reaching 2350m.

First step is to drop off my bag for it to be transported to the end of the route. Then a 40 minute trip on the bus from Shinano-Omachi to Ogizawa. Here I pick up my ticket ordered on line a few months ago. It is pouring with rain and the mountains are covered in mist again. May be a gloomy and wet day.

At Ogizawa an electric trolleybus runs in a 5km tunnel carved through the mountain. There are lots of people so 3 buses run in convoy for about 20 minutes pausing to let a similar convoy go the other way. On arrival at Kurobe Dam everybody has to walk across the dam admiring the views en route (or that would be the case except for the rain and mist). I can already see snow on the slopes above.

Next transport is a cable car - funicular to us - further up followed by a ropeway (cable car). The mist has really drawn in now. There’s still a way to go before the top at Murodo which is reached by another electric tunnel bus.

At Murodo there is an alpine walk but the snow underfoot and the rain makes that both perilous and wet so I make do with a walk to the famous snow wall. The snow covers the ground and roads here to a depth of 20+ metres in winter and in April the road is uncovered by tractors leaving a 15-20 metre wall of snow either side. It is at its best in April but still an impressive 13m today.

Time for a steamed pork bun to assist with the drying out then a bus (just a bus) heading down the other side to Tateyama dropping nearly 1500m in height. Another cable car then a heritage train makes the eventual trip to Toyama.Read more