HIKING MOUNT TATEYAMA IN JAPAN

hello!!! 💛

we recently came back from our trip to Japan!! spent half of our trip in the northern alps :-) & one of the places we visited was the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route which is a v stunning sightseeing mountain route stretching between Tateyama in Toyama prefecture 🗻 this route is surrounded by numerous majestic mountains, & one of it is Mount Tateyama/Oyama (立山) which we had planned to hike

** do take note of the alpine route’s opening period which is from 15 April to 30th Nov in 2024! you can check out their opening period for 2025 via their official website **

GETTING THERE —

• the entire alpine route took us thru different modes of transport (train, bus, cable car, trolley bus, ropeway, electric bus)

• you can either start the route from Toyama or Shinano Omachi which is at the other end

• for us, we started from Toyama & begun by taking a train from Dentetsu-Toyama station to Tateyama station

• cable car from Tateyama station to Bjiodaira

• highland bus from Bjiodaira to Murodo (we stopped at Tengudaira station first to drop off our bags at the mountain lodge we were staying overnight at)

HIKING TRAIL —

• Murodo > Murodo-sando mountain hut > Ichi-nokoshi > Mt Tateyama/Oyama & back the same route

• the whole ascend & descend took about 4hours + in total. we had to speed up a lil’ to catch the last bus at Murodo back to the lodge

• the trail begins with a gentle ascend thru the alpine meadows (abt an hour to Ichi-nokoshi)

• from Ichi-nokoshi (restroom stop!), trail becomes a lot rockier and steeper (pic 7). some sections needed me to use my hands… & it became a lil scary to look down

• there will be red arrows painted on the rocks to guide u with the ascend

• from the peak, we descended via the same route & just followed the arrows painted yellow

I honestly found the hike pretty difficult esp when the terrain became rockier & steeper. did not rly expect this level of toughness tbh 😅 but the views were so incredible throughout the entire hike & that had rly kept me going & pushing thru!

🛖: spent a night at Tengudaira Mountain Lodge which was a stop before Murodo station. costed $300+ per night with v yummy breakfast & dinner provided for the husband & i! only downside was that we slept on tatami mattresses which was rly uncomfy😔

TIPS —

• must haves are hiking shoes!!! wouldn’t have survived without it

• planning is very important due to the various modes of transport, & esp if you are planning to stay a night in the area! we started our hike at 11AM+ & had to rush a lil to catch the last bus at 4.20pm from Murodo to our lodge

• we arranged for baggage forwarding services at Toyama so our big luggages could be transported to Shinano Omachi where we collected them the next day!

• bought the JR Alpine pass alps which covered the entire area :-) but reservations for train was still needed!

• do check the weather on their official website!! it was abt 10-15 degrees when we went in early Oct

✨✨ overall, I was rly enthralled by the beauty of this place! without even needing to hike the mountains, Murodo itself was soooo breathtaking. we went in fall & got to experience the vibrant autumn colours. another highlight of this route includes Kurobe Dam which we got to explore the next day

will keep these beautiful mmrs in my heart 🥹

ig: rollsyourmind for more photos :-)

#hiking #TravelGuide #nature