Tateyama: Another World Above the Clouds (Photos)

The Murodō plateau, bathed in moonlight (April).

The north face of the Tateyama ridge line (April).

Sunset on the Midagahara plateau (May).

Male ptarmigans competing for territory (April).

A geyser bursts from the Jigokudani valley into the moonlit sky (April).

Cotton grass on the Tengudaira plain. Tateyama in the distance (July).

Sunrise reflecting off the waters of Mikurigaike (July).

Tateyama ridge line covered in snow (August).

A ptarmigan and chick in summer plumage (July).

Marshes on the Midagahara plateau (July).

A snowy gorge in Raichōzawa (July).

Tanbodaira in the fall (October).

A twilight world of azure (November).

Tateyama mountain range in midwinter (November).

Ice sculptures shaped by snow and wind (November).

A ptarmigan takes a moment’s rest (November).

Mikurigaike in the moonlight (November).

The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opens every year in mid-April. Vehicles travel along a road with 20-meter walls of snow on either side. Until the beginning of June, one lane in a 500-meter section of the road is opened to pedestrians, so they can get a feel for the scale of the snowy walls around them. The region has recently become a popular destination for tourists from China, Taiwan, and South Korea.