This part of Japan gets so much snow you have to wait until spring to see it, but the wait is over!
We’re half-way through spring, but it’s only now that one of Japan’s best snow sightseeing spots can be fully enjoyed. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route is a is a series of bus, cable car, and ropeway routes that connect Toyama City with the town of Omachi in Nagano, passing through breathtaking mountain scenery along the way.
Because of the high altitude, the route becomes snowed in during the winter and closes at the end of November. Work to clear the roads starts in late January or early February, with the blanket of snow so thick and obscuring that the bulldozers involved have to navigate by GPS. It’s not until April that the route reopens, but still with enough snow for amazing ice corridors in the section of the route called Yuki no Otani, or the Great Snow Valley.
The Kurobe Alpen Route has just reopened for 2026 as of April 15. It’s undeniably awesome-looking, but there are a couple of logistic challenges in visiting this uniquely beautiful part of Japan, the first of which is that private vehicles aren’t allowed on the majority of the route, so you’ll need to arrange for transportation with one of the licensed bus operators. The other potential problem is that the two endpoints of the route, Tateyama and Omachi, aren’t major tourism destinations in and of themselves, so the complete Alpen Route can be kind of tough to smoothly slide into the rest of your Japan travel itinerary.
There are alternatives to doing the entire end-to-end course, though, and one of them is being offered by Kyukeimura Noto Chirihama, a hotel located on the coast of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, not far from the historical town of Kanazawa, one of the most popular places to visit on the northern coast of Japan. Because Ishikawa and Toyama are neighbors, to celebrate the Alpen Route’s reopening Kyukeimura is offering a Tateyama Snow Walk Tour that’ll get you to the Great Snow Valley and back to the hotel as a day trip
Since you’re going from the coast to the mountains, you’ll get to see various types of scenery along the way as the tour takes you on the cable car from Tateyama Station to Bijodaira, whisking you 500 meters (1,640 feet) above your starting point, passing through the foothill forests.
From Bijodaira you’ll travel by bus through the Midagahara section of the route, with spring vegetation and waterfalls flowing strong from the thawed snow.
And finally you’ll arrive at Murodo, where the Great Snow Valley is, for two and a half hours to snap photos and marvel at the serene, surreal sight of the snow corridors.
Kyukeimura’s Tateyama Snow Walk Tour is being offered on April 25, as part of a two-night-stay package at the hotel, but the Great Snow Valley will be accessible to visitors through June 25, with independent transportation bookings available through the official Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route website. If you do decide to use the Noto Peninsula as a base to visit part of the route, though, don’t forget about the new Pokémon manhole covers in the area.
Related: Kyukeimura Noto Chirihama, Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route official website
Source: PR Times, Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route, PR Times
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