The Japanese Alpine Route is a series of buses, cable cars, and trains that connect Toyama and Omachi across Japan’s Northern Alps. The scenery varies with the altitudes – it is common to have snow at the top in July. The beautiful Kurobe Dam is part of the trip. I considered this one of the highlights of our visit to Japan.
How to tour the Alpine Route
There are several options, and the way we did it is probably the most unusual. Planning this ended up anchoring the rest of our itinerary. It will take almost an entire day to travel the entire route one way. That is pushing it, not leaving time to go hiking or exploring. You can’t bring luggage with you on the route. You can’t drive your own car, you have to take the transit systems.
What most people do is take a commercial tour out of Tokyo or Kyoto. They are typically 3 day tours, and have options to either do a round trip (e.g. Tokyo-Tokyo) or a 1-way (Tokyo – Kyoto). The tours drop you off at the start of the Alpine tour, then drive (with your luggage) to the other end to meet you. They typically visit other sites on the 3rd day before returning to Tokyo or Kyoto.
Being a do-it-yourselfer, we came up with another way. Being based already in Toyama, we planned a partial round trip. we went from Toyama as far as the Kurobe Dam, seeing the vast majority of the sights on the route, then turned around. By starting early, we could do this in one day, though without a lot of time for exploring. Since I’m also a fan of all the cool transit systems in use, I got to ride them twice! (The rest of my family is not, and one tends to get motion sickness, so they decided to spend a 2nd day in Kanazawa, and this became my personal side trip.)
Unfortunately, none of the Alpine Route is covered by a Japan Rail pass, and the fees will add up.
Navigating the trip as an independent traveler is easy. Each of the segments is connected by a transfer station. The stations each have bathrooms, and several sell food and souvenirs. They are well signed, and have timetables clearly posted in English. If you are just connecting thru and don’t want to shop / eat / look around, just look for a sign for the next segment and find the line for independent travelers (ask the ticket tacker if you aren’t sure.)
Key Web Resources
There is a dedicated, English-language official site for the Alpine Route. The most useful info here are the time tables for crossing. You need to plan carefully so that you can get back before the last train of the day.
The other key resource is, as usual, the Japan Guide.
Toyama to Tateyama
The first leg is a train from Toyama to Tateyama. The station is adjacent to but separate from the JR station. (It’s official name is Dentetsu Toyama but it’s really just next door.) You can buy your ticket for the entire journey here, and I recommend you do rather than buying each leg as you go. You won’t save money but you will save time.
The earlier you can get started the better. I took a train around 7:30am and was surprised that the train serves as a kind of school bus at that hour.
The train heads out thru the farms of Toyama and then begins a slow climb to Tateyama.
Tateyama to Bijodaira
Your Alpine Tour really begins here, with a cablecar up to Bijodaira. There isn’t much to do in Tateyama itself. The cablecar station is upstairs from the train stop.
The process is similar here as it will be for each future stop. There are generally several lines, typically numbered. One line will be for people doing this on their own, and the rest of the lines will be for tour groups.
Bijodaira to Murado: Highland Bus
At Bijodaira you’ll queue up for the bus ride to the highest point at Murado. There isn’t much to see at Bijodaira itself. The bus ride takes a bit under an hour, and is moderately twisty – people who get car sick, be ware.
The ride is pretty scenic. My favorite part was when we encountered a group of monkeys just hanging out in the street. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get out of our way. There was a brief pause to give us a view of a waterfall. Otherwise, it’s just interesting to see the weather change as you climb from about 3000 feet to 7500 feet.
In the late spring, they carve a pathway thru the snow, creating sheer walls of snow 20 feet high.
At Murado
Murado is the largest stop on the alpine route. There is a hotel, a fancy restaurant, several other fast food booths, and various gift shops. But most important are the hiking trails. If you have time in your route for some exploring, this is where you should spend it.
Note that the weather can be variable, even during the day. On our trip in late June, there was still plenty of snow at Murado. Because I was doing a 1-day round trip, I decided to keep going and save my hiking time for the return trip. But on the return trip, it was snowing so hard it was like a white-out, and I gave up hiking.
Murado to Daikanbo: Tateyama Trolley Bus
The next section of the route is on special electric buses that go thru a tunnel. Technically cool but obviously not much for sight seeing.
At Daikanbo, there is a small station with an observation deck that has some nice views of the mountains.
Daikanbo to Kurobedaira: Tateyama Ropeway
The journey back down the mountain begins with a beautiful cablecar ride (that’s what any ski resort would call it), except that there aren’t any intervening towers, it’s just free hanging between the two stations. It’s beautiful.
At Kurobedaira is another transfer station, this one has a few choices for food and souvenirs, and more great views outside the station.
Kurboedaira to the Kurobe Dam: Kurobe Cablecar
This is another inclined railway, similar to the first leg out of Tateyama. The trip is entirely inside a tunnel.
Kurobe Dam
Leaving the cablecar, you walk across the dam, and then there are several places to explore. For the best views of the dam and the mountains, you can climb up a long set of stairs to get a view from above. There are a couple of food vendors here too. The dam area is beautiful and you should plan on spending at least 30 minutes to look around, longer if you hike slowly to the top of the observation area.
If you are continuing on, there is a tunnel near the dam that leads to the Kanden Trolley bus, which connects to the Omachi regular bus service, and you’re back to civilization! But I turned around at the dam.
Returning
From here I just did everything in reverse. Just keep an eye on time to make sure you make it back for the last cablecar back down to Tateyama.