Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route　The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine is a famous mountain sightseeing route between the towns of Tateyama in Toyama prefecture, and Ōmachi in Nagano prefecture.

Along with Mt.Fuji and Mt.Hakusan, Tateyama is one of Japan’s Three Sacred Mountains and has been worshiped since ancient times. The Tateyama Range is a spectacular and solemn display of peaks, soaring to an altitude of 3,000 meters.

First,we got a train to Shinano-Omachi, which is a station under the Tateyama mountain,and gateway to the Kurobe Alpine Route.

  Kurobe Dam

Then,　we changed to a bus to Ogisawa and got a trolley bus to go to Kurobe Dam.　Kurobe Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic power plants in the world, which cost the Japanese goverment 51 billion yen (over 30 million euro in today’s terms) to construct between 1956 and 1963. In summer you can see the water rush past. It’s like a big waterfall. But in this season, the dam is completely frozen and is very quiet.

 

   Cable Car at Daikanbo

Finally, we got a trolley bus again to Murodo, and we arrived at the  Hotel Tateyama. The hotel is located in the center of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpen Route – nestled in Murodo Daira, 2,450 meters above sea level – the highest location of any hotel in all of Japan.

 

We Joined with a tour from Tateyama hotel, a walking tour in the snow. The hotel is surrounded by snowy mountains. But it’s not very cold, like an Irish winter! The snowy mountains stretch as far as we can see. It’s so beautiful,like another world…

Tateyama Snow Wall-Route to Kanazawa This morning, we went to see a snow wall called ”Yuki-no-otani”. Today, the whole alpine route was  reopened.The snow wall was 16meter high this time. In snowy years, it reaches up to 20m!Along the way we met Mr. Konishi, a photographer, who is travelling throughout Japan and writing a report and taking photos for a newspaper.

Also he was interested in us, because Japan has very few Irish tourists.　At noon, we went down the mountain by bus and cable car. We passed some more snow walls en route!Tateyama Station is located on the Toyama prefecture side of the route (Yesterday we ware in Shinano-Oomachi on the Nagano prefecture side).We got a local country side train from Toyama to Dentetsu-toyama.I saw Tateyama mountain, traditional Japanese houses and rice fields from the train window. In Dentetsu-toyama station,we changed to a rapid train and went to Kanazawa. Kanazawa has many famous gardens, we are going to visit one tomorrow.　

Today, we stayed in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn.It’s very different from a hotel. You have to take of shoes before you go into your room. And you can eat dinner in your room. The room has no bed, but instead of a bed, Japanese inns have “futon”. The nakai-san (housekeeper) is very polite, she will take good care of you when you stay in a Ryokan.This evening we had Japanese banquet “Kaiseki-ryori”, which was delicious!

Kanazawa This morning we got a big JapaneseRyokan style breakfast, it’s as big as Irish breakfast!I roasted the fish at the top of the picture by myself! Today we visited Kenroku-en Garden. Kenroku-en (Six Attributes Garden) is an old private garden developed from the 1620s to 1840s by the Maeda clan, the daimyo who ruled the former Kaga Domain. The garden is one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan, the name suggesting that the garden combining the six attributes of a perfect garden: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas. It is a strolling-style landscape garden with the characteristics of a typical landscape garden of the Edo period. Originally the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle, it was located on the slope facing the castle. Unfortunately, the day we went, it was raining. The nakai-san said“Kanazawa is one of the rainy districts, even if you forget your lunch,don’t forget your umbrella”! But a rainy day in the garden is still lovely….After Kenrokuen-garden, we went to the 21st Century Museum of Modern Art, near Kenrokuen Garden. The museum building is modern and polished. If you have an interest in art and have a chance to stay in Kanazawa, you should take some time to visit the museum! After this, we transferred to Tokyo by Shinkansen(Bullet Train). Tokyo is the last city we’ll visit on this tour.

 Japanese style breakfast!

 Kenrokuen Garden,Kanazawa

Tokyo　I feel that Tokyo, the biggest metropolis in Asia, is so huge! And Tokyo has so many Metro lines and JR lines…It’s like a maze! But don’t worry,it has English information just about everywhere!!

Tokyo has many must-see points, including:

 

    Stall in Asakusa

Asakusa

Asakusa will enable you to feel the unique lifestyle of the common folk of Tokyo’s “Downtown” area where the “Old Edo” still exists.The many narrow backstreets, lined with old buildings and shops, sell traditional items. If you are going to buy souvenirs, I would recommend this place.

Odaiba　Odaiba is a popular waterfront area. Decks Tokyo Beach is a commercial complex featuring Daiba Little Hong Kong, with a variety of Chinese stores and restaurants, and Tokyo Joypolis, an amusement park designed by SEGA.

Tokyo Tower　Tokyo Tower is 333m high, and the world’s tallest self-supporting iron structure, edging out the Eiffel Tower by 13m. It’s located in the Hamamatsucho area.　And on Saint Patrick’s Day,　the tower was lit up bright green!

     Hakone hot springs area

And If you have a time please visit Fuji Hakone, it’s 1 hr and 30 min by rail from Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station. It’s a famous hot　spring resort area set in beautiful mountains, which comprise the Fuji Hakone Izu National Park, within which resides the world-famous Mount Fuji!