The is a famous mountain sightseeing route between Tateyama, Toyama and Ōmachi, Nagano, Japan. The whole route opened in June 1, 1971.

Overview

The route is just 37km in length, but the vertical interval is as large as 1,975m. It takes 7 different public transports with 5 different modes, namely funicular, bus, trolleybus, aerial tramway, and walking.

The route is carefully built not to damage the nature around. Consequently, three lines go entirely under tunnels. (This is also to protect the lines from snow.) Among them, two are trolleybus lines. Trolleybuses are all gone in the country, except of these two lines, still used here as they don't exhaust gas.

The route goes through Tateyama of Hida Mountains with a lot of scenic sites, including Kurobe dam. Some stations have hotels around them, and are the bases of mountain climbing or trekking.

The section between Kurobe Dam and Ōgisawa was originally made for the construction of the dam, while the section between Tateyama and Kurobeko was for tourists from the beginning. Currently, the route is purely a sightseeing one, only used by tourists. Although this is the only route that directly links Toyama and Nagano, it is unpractical for normal users as it takes 6 transfers, roughly 5 hours, and ¥8,060 fare just between Tateyama and Ōgisawa.

Tateyama Kurobe Kankō

The is a public transport company that operates most lines in the route. Its official abbreviation is TKK. The word kankō (貫光) was coined by Muneyoshi Saeki, the first president of the company. According to him, kan (貫) means "time", and kō (光) means "space", while kan (貫) also (normally) means "to penetrate", as in "to penetrate Tateyama Mountains". The word is a homophone to kankō (観光; "sightseeing"), possibly intentionally.

Lines and stations

Transfer station / terminus	Elevation	Transport mode	Line name	Distance	Location
Dentetsu-Toyama (電鉄富山駅)	7 m	Railway	Toyama Chiho Railway: Main Line, Tateyama Line 1	34 km	Toyama	Toyama
Tateyama (立山駅)	475 m				Tateyama
		Funicular	TKK: Tateyama Cable Car	1.3 km
Bijodaira (美女平駅)	977 m
		Bus	TKK: Tateyama Highland Bus	23 km
Murodō (室堂駅)	2,450 m
		Trolleybus	TKK: Tateyama Tunnel Trolley Bus 2	3.7 km
Daikanbō (大観峰駅)	2,316 m
		Aerial tramway	TKK: Tateyama Ropeway	1.7 km
Kurobedaira (黒部平駅)	1,828 m
		Funicular	TKK: Kurobe Cable Car 2	0.8 km
Kurobeko (黒部湖駅)	1,455 m
		Walking	(15 minutes walk on Kurobe dam)
Kurobe Dam (黒部ダム駅)	1,455 m
		Trolleybus	Kansai Electric Power Company: Kanden Tunnel Trolley Bus 2	6.1 km
Ōgisawa (扇沢駅)	1,433 m				Ōmachi	Nagano
		Bus	Kawanakajima Bus, Kita Alps Kōtsū, and Matsumoto Electric Railway: Ōmachi Alpine Line Bus 1	18 km
Shinano-Ōmachi (信濃大町駅)	713 m

¹: Sometimes considered as a part of the route. However, most guided tours use chartered buses for this section.

²: The line goes entirely under a tunnel.

Gallery

See also

• Kurobe dam
• Kurobe Senyō Railway

External links

• Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route official website
• Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route official website
• Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route corporations official website