Introduction to: Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route

This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 16 May 2018.

Edit 11 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Edit 14 May 2020: Updated to add information on luggage forwarding services

The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route (立山黒部アルペンルート, Tateyama Kurobe Arupen Rūto) is a sequence of transportation sections traversing the northern Japan Alps.  The concept of the Alpine Route came about after the construction of the Kurobe Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in Japan.  Roads and tunnels built to aid in the dam's construction were re-tooled for tourism, creating the Alpine Route in 1971.  Visitors traversing the route will ride various trains, buses, and cable cars, all the while witnessing beautiful natural vistas, with multiple opportunities to stop and take hikes.  The entire route is opened only from mid-April to the end of November.

The route may be crossed in either direction, or you may also go to a certain point and turn back mid-way.  For the purposes of this blog, I will describe the route going from west to east, since that is how I took it.  Also, English reading order.

Transportation Sections

A) Toyama Chiho Railway: Not officially part of the Route, but the best method to access Tateyama Station, its westernmost point.
Time: 60 minutes
Departures: 1 per hour

B) Tateyama Cable Car: An inclined cable car at the western base of Mount Tateyama.
Time: 7 minutes
Departures: Every 20 minutes

663highland / CC BY-SA

C) Highland Bus: A regular bus service climbing most of the way up Tateyama, with occasional stops at the Midagahara plateau.
Time: 50 minutes
Departures: Every 40 minutes

D) Tateyama Trolleybus: A trolleybus, powered by overhead electricity, driven along a tunnel cut through the top of Tateyama.
Time: 10 minutes
Departures: Every 30 minutes

E) Tateyama Ropeway: The longest single-span (1.6km / 1 mi.) hanging cable-car in Japan.
Time: 7 minutes
Departures: Every 20 minutes

F) Kurobe Cable Car: An inclined cable car at the eastern base of Tateyama.
Time: 5 minutes
Departures: Every 20 minutes

G) Kanden Trolleybus: A trolleybus cutting through a tunnel within Mount Akasawa-dake, linking Kurobe Dam to the outside world.
Time: 16 minutes
Departures: Every 30 minutes

H) Alpico Kotsu Bus: A local transportation company offering regular buses to Omachi, and highway buses to Nagano.  Not officially part of the Route, but the best method to access Ogizawa, its easternmost point.
Time: 40 minutes (to Omachi), 105 minutes (to Nagano)
Departures: 1-3 per hour (to Omachi), 1 per hour (to Nagano)

Stops and Attractions

XF10 / CC BY-SA

1) Tateyama: The western end of the Alpine Route, boasting a few small museums.

663highland / CC BY-SA

2) Bijodaira: A virgin beech/cedar forest, with giant trees and folk legends.

Shomyo Falls (left) and Hannoki Falls (right).
I, Kahusi / CC BY-SA

3) Shomyo Falls: The tallest regular waterfall (350m / 1,148 ft.) in Japan.  In Spring, melting snow feeds the even taller (497m / 1,640 ft.) Hannoki Falls.

Alpsdake / CC BY-SA

4) Midagahara: One of the largest and highest alpine wetlands in Japan, with boardwalk-lined hiking trails.

5) Murodo: The highest point (2,450m / 8,038 ft.) of the Alpine Route, with many more hiking trails.  From April to June, a canyon is carved out of snow accumulated over the winter.

6) Daikanbo: The upper station of the Tateyama Ropeway.  Offers sweeping views looking down upon Kurobe Dam and the surrounding valley.

くろふね [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

7) Kurobedaira: The lower station of the Tateyama Ropeway.  Offers additional views looking down closer to Kurobe Dam, or up at Tateyama.

8) Kurobe Dam: The tallest dam in Japan, measuring 186 metres (610 ft) tall.  From June to October, it releases regular discharges of water, and cruise boats ply the reservoir above.

Shinano-Omachi Station.
663highland / CC BY-SA

9) Omachi: The eastern end of the Alpine Route, boasting numerous hot-spring resorts.

Costs

Tickets for the Alpine Route may be purchased from stations at either end.  Costs vary depending on the distance travelled, but one-way tickets for the whole length cost ¥11,050 per person.  For any given ticket, stopovers along the way are allowed, but backtracking is not.  A few money-saving value tickets are available, some of them exclusively for foreign visitors.

• The Tateyama-Kurobe Option Ticket, ¥9,800, covers a one-way journey across the Alpine Route, including the express bus to/from Nagano.  It is good for five consecutive days, but must be purchased no later than the day before you intend to start using it.  It must be purchased inside Japan, and is available at Narita, Haneda, and Kansai airports, and major train stations in the JR East and JR West areas.  Train transportation to and from the Alpine Route itself is not included.  More information: (English)
• The Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto Area Pass, ¥17,830 (¥18,850 when purchased inside Japan), covers JR trains between Nagoya and Toyama (via Takayama), between Nagoya and Shinano-Omachi (via Matsumoto), and transportation along the Alpine Route itself.  It may be pre-purchased online for a discount, and exchanged or purchased directly at Chubu Centrair airport, and at major train stations in the JR Central area.  More information: (English)
• JR Central also sells the "Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Kippu", a family of tickets which combine Alpine Route transportation with round-trip train fare from Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, or other cities, for eight consecutive days.  Unlike the above passes, these are sold to Japanese citizens as well as foreigners, although they may not be as good a value as the alternatives.  Costs for these tickets vary depending on the starting city, and which of several routes are taken.  More information: (Japanese)

Starting City	Route	Cost
Nagoya	"Hida Course" (via Takayama)	¥18,950
	"Shirasagi Course" (via Kanazawa)	¥22,250
Kyoto	"Hokuriku Round-trip" (via Itoigawa/Kanazawa)	¥23,660
	"Hokuriku/Chuo Course" (via Matsumoto/Nagoya)	¥26,220
Osaka	"Hokuriku Round-trip" (via Itoigawa/Kanazawa)	¥24,710
	"Hokuriku/Chuo Course" (via Matsumoto/Nagoya)	¥27,370

Access

With an early start, it is possible to traverse all or part of the Alpine Route as a day trip from Tokyo.  From Tokyo, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano (80-100 minutes, ¥8,340 reserved, JR Pass OK), and an express bus to Ogizawa (105 minutes, ¥2,800).  These buses depart from the East Exit of Nagano Station, on the same side as the Shinkansen tracks.  On the other side, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Toyama back to Tokyo (130-160 minutes, ¥12,960 reserved, JR Pass OK).  This trip can also be done in the opposite direction.

A longer, but more scenic, approach from Tokyo is to take the Azusa or Super Azusa limited express from Shinjuku to Matsumoto (160 minutes), followed by the JR Oito line to Shinano-Omachi (55 minutes, total ¥7,390 reserved, JR Pass OK).  The bus between Shinano-Omachi and Ogizawa takes 40 minutes, and costs ¥1,390.  Unlike the express buses from Nagano, the Option Ticket is not valid on these buses.

Coming in from western cities takes even more time, and while it still may be possible to go and come back in a single day, it is less advisable.  From Nagoya, take the Shinano limited express either to Nagano, or via Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi (3 hours, total ¥7,460 / 6,800 reserved, JR Pass OK).  On the way back, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa (25 minutes), followed by the Shirasagi limited express to Nagoya (3 hours, total ¥9,210, JR Pass OK).  Alternately, there are a few direct Hida limited express trains that go straight to Nagoya, via Takayama (4 hours, ¥7,790 reserved, JR Pass OK).

From Kyoto, take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya (35-50 minutes), followed by the Shinano either to Nagano, or via Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi (3 hours, total ¥11,130 / 10,800, JR Pass OK).  On the way back, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa (25 minutes), followed by the Thunderbird limited express to Kyoto (130 minutes, total ¥9,040 reserved, JR Pass OK).  From Osaka (Shin-Osaka Station), add an extra 15 minutes and about ¥550 both ways.

Tips

• While day trips along the route are possible from the above-mentioned cities, you will be very pressed for time if you attempt it.  A better idea would be to spend the night at one of the cities at either end of the route.  Some good choices are Nagano, Matsumoto, and Omachi on the east side, and Toyama or Kanazawa on the west.  There are even a couple of hotels along the route itself, including the Hotel Tateyama at Murodo, which just so happens to be the highest hotel in Japan by elevation.
• Wait times can be a serious issue at certain points along the Alpine Route.  On weekends, and during the snow wall season from April to May, prepare for queues at transfer points to last an hour or more.  Bottlenecks to be particularly aware of include the trolleybuses and the Tateyama Ropeway, due to limited capacity and/or departure frequency.  The Apline Route's official website includes a calendar of projected wait times per day: (English) (Japanese)
• Luggage forwarding services are available for part or all of the Alpine Route, ranging in cost from ¥1500 to ¥2500 per piece.  In order to have it arrive at the other end on the same day, make sure you drop it off early enough.  The same-day delivery times vary depending on where you're sending your luggage from.  More information: (English) (Japanese)
  
• Private cars are not allowed on any section of the Alpine Route between Tateyama and Ogizawa.  There are free and/or paid parking lots at both ends.  For those who wish to have their car delivered from one end to the other, instead of backtracking, this will cost ¥26,000 for most cars.  More information: (English) (Japanese)

Trivia

• Kurobe Dam was constructed between 1956 and 1963, to meet the growing electricity needs of the post-war Kansai region.  Of the 10 million people who were employed over the course of this period [citation needed], 171 workers lost their lives.  A monument made in their honour may be found along the reservoir.
• Since "Omachi", the name of the town at the east end of the Alpine Route, is a common place name in Japanese, it is often referred to as Shinano-Omachi.  Shinano Province (信濃国, Shinano no Kuni) is the former name of Nagano Prefecture before 1871.

Website: (English) (Japanese)