Tateyama

Tateyama is a mountain town in Toyama Prefecture and the western start of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, the crossing of the Northern Japan Alps famous for its spring snow corridor. The sacred peak of Mount Tateyama above it has drawn pilgrims for over a thousand years.

The route climbs by cable car and trolley bus to the Murodo plateau, where buses pass between white walls high as buildings in spring. Shomyo Falls, Japan's tallest waterfall, pours 350 meters down a cliff face outside town, strongest at snowmelt, and boardwalk loops cross the volcanic plateau above.

Watch for raicho, the alpine ptarmigan, up top, and continue over the mountains toward Kurobe Dam if you are crossing to Nagano. The route opens from mid-April to late November; the snow walls peak early, the larches turn late. Trains from Toyama city reach the route's base station.