Photo/Illutration Visitors stroll along the Yuki no Otani on April 15, a famous snow wall in Tateyama, Toyama Prefecture. (Takuya Tanabe)

TATEYAMA, Toyama Prefecture--The popular Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, running through the Northern Japan Alps and spanning 37.2 kilometers across Toyama and Nagano prefectures, fully opened on April 15.

Visitors took part in a walking event on the day during which they enjoyed strolling along the towering snow wall called Yuki no Otani.

The snow wall, formed on both sides of part of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, reached a height of 18 meters on April 15.

The 500-meter-long snow wall is near Murodo, the highest point of the route, at an altitude of 2,450 meters. The snow wall's height has averaged 16.3 meters in the past decade.

“It’s been a while since the last time I made a trip," said a 62-year-old visitor from Aichi Prefecture. "I’m so happy to see the Yuki no Otani wall for the first time.”

Tateyama Kurobe Kanko, operator of the route based in Toyama city, is hoping visitor numbers will recover after dipping due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

“We are taking thorough measures to prevent infection so we may welcome many visitors," said a staff member of Tateyama Kurobe Kanko. "We hope visitors will be awed by nature and relax.”

The route will be open until Nov. 30.

In 2020, when Tateyama Kurobe Kanko canceled the walking event to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, visitors dropped to 230,000 compared to 883,000 visitors in 2019.

Even when the walking event resumed in 2021, only 304,000 people visited the route.

This year, however, the operator will run other events near Murodo, which it had to downsize due to the pandemic in previous years.

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