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Chubu-Sangaku NP, Toyama
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The 1.71-km ropeway from Daikanbō to Kurobedaira has no support towers—the longest single-span line in Japan. Its design avoids avalanche and rockfall hazards while protecting the mountain slope.
The ropeway cable was a custom-built giant: 5.4 cm thick and 28 tonnes. Too heavy for the local cable car, it came by trailer through Kanden Tunnel and across the crest of Kurobe Dam.
The tunnel from Daikanbō to Murodo fought back: workers faced muddy water gushing at 63 tonnes a minute, just 2.5°C, through fractured rock. Its 3.7-km bore finally broke through in December 1969.
Daikanbō station clings to a cliff-edge ledge. With nearby slopes prone to avalanches and rockfall, this spot was chosen as the only safe site; visitors can step outdoors only onto its rooftop terrace.
From Daikanbō, autumn paints the broadleaf trees of Tanbo-daira red and gold below, while the opposite Ushiro-Tateyama range has many more conifers and far less fall color—a striking two-sided palette.
Daikanbō’s skies are patrolled by iwatsubame (Asian house martins). These swallows naturally nest on mountain cliffs and snatch insects in flight—perfectly at home above the station.
The ropeway from Daikanbō opened on July 25, 1970—before the Murodo tunnel bus began in 1971 and the full Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opened on June 1, 1971. The cross-mountain journey came together in stages.
