Tateyama-Kurobe alpine route
If you are interested in having a different perspective of Japan, we highly encourage to plan a trip to the Japanese alps.
Tateyama-Kurobe alpine route
We travelled to the Alpine Route Tateyama-Kurobe, following the advice we found in the Ultimate Guide from the Nerd Nomads blog. It’s a super detailed and well explained itinerary, that allowed for a well organised day trip, highly encourage everybody to check it out before preparing for this trip.
We, unfortunately, picked the most busy period to travel to Japan - the 'Golden Week', which slightly impacted all our moves along the 90km long route, with buses, trolleys, cable cars, and ropeways.
One of the first most impressive stops you do, is at the hydropower site called Kurobe Dam. It is the tallest dam in Japan, and one of the most difficult engineering feat post-World War II. Thanks to the alpine route, you are given access to walk along the dam, and finally arrive on top at the Kurobe Dam rest-house.
Kurobe Dam from the rest-house at 1508m
Cement bucket used during the construction
We were not expecting so much snow at the end of April, and were definitely not ready to hike in the snowy paths. While we were on the dam, it was sunny warm and saw so many people walking around with skis and big boots, in winter clothes. We later understood why. If you do choose to go make sure to wear layers and be prepared to hike along snowy paths, along the beautiful Murodo mountain range.
Murodo Mountain Range
Tateyama Hotel, Toyama
Views from the Tateyama Hotel
The Alpine Route is open from the 15th of April until the 30th of November, the openings though do change depending on the weather and the conditions on top of the mountains. Be sure to check the website before planning for your trip and do buy your tickets online.
Cable Car Kurobedaira
18m ice/snow wall
Just a suggestion from food perspective (very important for us), we did bring it before travelling to the route, this was definitely a smart choice (especially due to the crowds mentioned before). Bento boxes are always available in case you plan for no food, but they are limited.
We ended our trip (9 hours later) at the Tateyama Station and travelled to Dentetsu Toyama station to collect our luggage. Finally we moved to our next destination: Kanazawa.
