Tateyama
立山町36°35′ N 137°27′ ETownHokuriku and Noto
Tateyama suits skiers and sightseers who want to sleep at the foot of the Alpine Route and catch the first cable car up, and its trade-off is a quiet station area where the route and several businesses shut from December to mid-April.
Photo 663highland · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay at Tateyama Station to be first in the queue for the cable car on a spring ski day or a snow-wall morning. If you want restaurants and nightlife, stay in Toyama and take the first train up.
Things to do in Tateyama
Tateyama town climbs from the rice fields east of Toyama to the 3,003 m summit of Mt. Oyama, the main peak of the Tateyama range. The Alpine Route starts at Tateyama Station at the end of the Toyama Chiho Railway line, about an hour from Dentetsu-Toyama. A cable car lifts you to Bijodaira in about seven minutes, and the highland bus takes about 50 more to reach Murodo at 2,450 m.
In 2026 the route ran from 15 April to 30 November, and the 2027 opening date was not out when we checked in October 2026. From mid-April the bus climbs between the snow walls of the Yuki-no-Otani, and skiers carry their boards and skis up to Murodo's spring snow. Ashikuraji, the village below the station, was home to the guides and priests of Tateyama worship, and Oyama Shrine's Chugu Kiganden still stands there.
Tateyama Station has about 900 free parking spaces and a temporary overflow lot of about 600, and both fill on autumn holiday weekends. Locomotion Coffee and Bed, a minute from the station, opened its café at 7:00 on 15 April 2026 and closes from December to March.
Worth knowing
- Spring ski tourers must file a mountain entry form for Murodo in April, May and November, online through Compass or at the safety desk inside Murodo Terminal.
- Carry an avalanche beacon and a portable toilet above Murodo; Toyama's rules for the snow season require both.
Quick answers about Tateyamaよくある質問
Is Tateyama a good place to stay?
Stay at Tateyama Station to be first in the queue for the cable car on a spring ski day or a snow-wall morning. If you want restaurants and nightlife, stay in Toyama and take the first train up.
Within 12 km
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