In the early 1970’s, a 37 km (23 mile) long east–west route was created in the northern part of the Northern Japan Alps. This Alpine Route reaches an elevation of 2450 m (8,000 ft) and provides access to impressive mountain scenery. Although the infrastructure is somewhat dated, the route remains a popular tourist activity. To preserve the natural setting and keep tourism numbers under control, the route is only accessible via public transportation. It includes six transportation modes that we did in ten stages, starting in Toyama.
I’ve added a “T” to this map from my last post. Toyama (T) is east of Kanazawa on a bay in the Japan Sea. The Alpine Route extends eastward from Toyama just north of the “N” in the words “Japan Alps” on this map.
Here is a closer-up view of the Alpine Route. We started at Toyama and took a train to Tateyama Station (green star). We stayed overnight at Midagahara Hotel (red star) and continued to the route’s end at Ogizawa Station (yellow star). This route is named Tateyama because it passes adjacent to and under (via tunnels) Mount Tate (Tateyama), located in the high peaks that are white in this satellite image because they are snow-covered during the winter.This cross section shows the six modes of transportation used on the Alpine Route. We used all modes: train from Toyama to Tateyama Station; cable car (really a funicular) to Bijodaira; highland bus to Midagahara (where we stayed overnight); bus to Murodo (with lots of hiking); tunnel trolley bus to Daikanbo; ropeway (what we call cable car) to Kurobedaira; cable car (i.e., funicular) to Kurobeko; walking across the dam; tunnel electric bus to Ogizawa. At the end of the route, we took the express bus to Nagano city.Two transportation modes. Left side: Train from Toyama to Tateyama. This is far from a Shinkansen (bullet train) ride. Rather, it is more like U.S. trains—rather rickety and slow moving. Right side: A view from Daikanbo of the ropeway (what we call a cable car) that transports passengers to Kurobedaira and the Kurobe Dam below. The dam is on the left side of the photo.Two more transportation modes. Left and center: Cable car (what we call a funicular) used on uphill and downhill stages. Right side: Tunnel trolley bus from Murodo to Daikanbo. These are just like the trolleys in San Francisco—they run on the street but are attached to an overhead electric line. Except, they run on a road confined in a tunnel that widens where two-way traffic intersects. The tunnel electric bus from Kurobe Dam to Ogizawa is an electric that runs through a tunnel but is not attached to overhead lines. The highland bus from Bijodaira to Mudoro is a regular gas-powered bus running on a surface road.
It was fun to travel on these various modes, and to stop for hiking and observing the views between and along each stage.
Midagahara
Unfortunately, on Day 1, the weather did not cooperate. When we arrived at Bijodaira station, a live camera feed suggested we were not going to see much when we arrived at our overnight destination at Midagahara (elevation: 6330 ft; temp: 54° F). And sure enough, we arrived in complete cloud cover with zero visibility and frequent rain showers. There was nothing to do but to hang out in the hotel and hope for improvement. Fortunately, it was a comfortable hotel that served an excellent dinner.Happily, we awoke at 5:00 the next morning to clear skies and quickly went outside for a pre-breakfast hike. What a surprise to see that Toyama and the bay on which it’s located was visible in the distance 1930 m (6330 ft) below us. The Midagahara area spreads over a gentle plateau formed by past volcanic activity. The boardwalk was constructed because the plateau is covered by an extensive wetland whose importance is internationally recognized. It appeared to us that volcanic ash had weathered to clay, thus reducing drainage and enabling water to collect in ponds and marshes on the plateau, even at this high elevation. This view is toward the west.This eastward view is back toward the hotel in the early morning light, showing more of the marshy plateau in this area.
Murodo
After breakfast, we were able to take an early bus to Murodo, where we hiked most of the day.
That’s Tateyama (Mount Tate) on the left side of the photo. At 3,015 m (9,892 ft), Tateyama is one of the tallest mountains in the Hida Mountains (Northern Japan Alps) and one of Japan’s “Three Holy Mountains”. I took this photo on the bus from Midagahara to Murodo.This is an overview of the Murodo area where we hiked much of the day. The transfer station is located in buildings on the left side of the photo. We hiked from there around the pond and along Jigokudani (hell valley), where steam is rising from fumeroles. We continued down into the valley on the right side of the photo and then hiked up the valley, continuing farther uphill to an observation point where I took this photo. The time was early afternoon, when clouds had started to build up.This is a closer-up view of Jigokudani (hell valley) with its fumeroles. The valley is a hollowed-out crater formed by a volcanic steam explosion on Tateyama about 10,000 years ago. It still spews volcanic gas, and because the activity has intensified, we could only walk along a high ledge. Note the plants in the foreground that have died because of the gases. A hotel (building on right side of photo) seemed to be now mostly abandoned.There is extensive monitoring of the volcanic gases and alarms are set up to go off if the wind direction or emission intensity make the gases a danger to visitors. We walked on a path that had warnings, but at that time there was no wind and no danger.It was gratifying to see tents in the valley where people were camping and enjoying the natural setting. There are many trails up to adjacent peaks that would be interesting to climb, given more time and clear weather.Here’s a cute sign for campers and hikers: a ptarmigan asking everyone to take their trash with them. We were impressed by the hard work needed to create the valley trail. Wooden stairs had been constructed, and each step had two rebar supports to make them very sturdy.
Kurobe Dam
From Murodo, we continued more quickly through the remaining stages, just lingering to walk up to observation decks and across a dam.
This view down to Kurobe Dam and the reservoir behind it is from Kurobedaira, at the top of the ropeway (i.e., cable car) that goes down to the dam. Once at the reservoir, we walked across the dam and then took the electric bus through a tunnel to Ogizawa Station.Kurobe Dam is Japan’s largest. They feel the pride that people in the U.S. feel for the Hoover Dam.
After completing the Alpine Route, we spent a few days in Nagano city, which just got listed on Condé Nast Traveler’s “13 Beautiful Destinations You’ve Probably Never Heard Of”. Incredibly, my small hometown of Ashland, Oregon, also made this international list. After Nagano, it was time for the major cities. We are ending the trip in Kyoto and Tokyo.
Logistics for traveling in Hokkaido and the Japan Alps
Jay lived in Japan for 6 months, but it was 40 years ago. I had never been in Japan before and, given the differences in language and culture, I was uncertain about how to plan the trip, as I usually do. Fortunately, I found Samurai Tours, a company that provides services for travelers who want logistical support but want to travel on their own. They have a list of self-guided itineraries to choose from—https://www.samuraitours.com/tour-packages/self-guided-packages/. We choose “Hokkaido Self Guided” and “Best of Japan Alps Self Guided”.
Samurai Tours made our hotel reservations and purchased most of our train tickets. They provided suggestions for each day’s activities. Because we are self guided, we could make changes in the itinerary. For example, we added a few days for additional hiking, and we sometimes choose different activities than what was suggested for the day. We were pleased with the schedule and the hotels. Although most hotels were large-sized, they had excellent breakfast buffets and onsens (hot springs) that aided our travel experience. We requested a guide for one day in Tokyo and again in Kyoto—this helped us gain many local insights. We recommend the services of Samurai Tours.
