Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani: 2025 Opening Hours, Snow Wall Height, and Travel Guide

Post date: 2025-02-28 | Categories: Japan Travel

Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani is the most important attraction of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Many people visit Tateyama Kurobe just to see the snow wall. The Snow Wall is located at Murodo, the highest point of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. It is formed by the snow cleared from the mountain roads after winter, creating towering snow walls on both sides of the road.

Note: The Toyama Prefecture Road Public Corporation website has a page explaining how the snow wall is formed. Feel free to check it out if you’re interested.

Table of Contents

Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani: 2025 Opening Hours, Location, and Snow Wall Height

The Tateyama Kurobe Snow Wall is generally visible from the opening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route until mid to late June, lasting about two months. During this period, the “Snow Wall Festival” is held. The 2025 Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route will fully open on April 15, 2025, and the “2025 Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani Festival” will take place from April 15 to June 25, 2025.

2025 Snow Wall Height

The height of the Tateyama Kurobe Snow Wall varies each year. The more it snows, the higher the wall. Historically, the highest snow wall was 20 meters, recorded in 2000. In April 2017, the snow wall reached 19 meters, just 1 meter shorter than the historical record.

In recent years, the highest snow wall was 13 meters in 2023 and 14 meters in 2024, 6 meters lower than the historical record. The height for 2025 has not been announced yet, but given the heavy snowfall in February, it is expected to be higher than in 2024. The snow wall height decreases by about 0.5 meters per week, so the earlier you visit, the taller and more impressive the wall will be.

2025 Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani Festival

As in previous years, the highlight of the “2025 Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani Festival” is the Snow Wall Walk (Yuki no Otani Walk). Other popular activities include the Panorama Road (Panorama Road), which offers a bird’s-eye view of the snow wall, and the Snow Corridor (Yuki no Kairo).

In addition to the regular activities, there are two new activities introduced in 2024: a snow play area (April 15 to May 6) and a limited-time rest area during Japan’s Golden Week (April 26 to May 6), though the latter is a paid service.

The main venue for the Snow Wall Festival is at Murodo, the highest point of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Since 2022, two additional venues have been added at Daikanbo, featuring a snow tunnel (mid-April to early May) and a snow cave (mid-May to mid-June).

Below is the map of the “2025 Snow Wall Festival” activities and locations:

1. Snow Otani Walk (雪の大谷ウォーク)

The main attraction of the Snow Otani Festival is the Snow Otani Walk (雪の大谷ウォーク), where visitors can walk along the towering snow walls. For more details, refer to the section “Walking Through the Snow Otani“.

Dates: April 15 to June 25, 2025

Time: 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM daily

Location: Highland Bus Road outside Murodo Station, marked as “1” on the map

2. Panorama Road (パノラマロード)

The Panorama Road allows visitors to walk on the snow surface above the snow wall, offering a panoramic view of the snow wall from above.

Dates: April 15 to May 6, 2025

Time: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM daily

Location: Above the snow wall, marked as “2” on the map

3. Snow Corridor (雪の回廊)

The Snow Corridor is a smaller snow wall located behind Murodo Station. Unlike the Snow Wall, which is on a cleared road, the Snow Corridor is on a snow-covered ground. Visitors can experience walking through the snow walls here, though they are not as tall as the main snow wall. For more details, refer to the section “Exploring the Snow Corridor“.

Dates: April 15 to June 25, 2025

Time: All day

Location: Above the snow wall, marked as “3” on the map

Snow Otani Travel Guide

Here is a guide based on my visit to the Tateyama Kurobe Snow Otani in April. I visited the main snow wall, which was 19 meters high, and also explored the Snow Corridor.

Walking Through the Snow Otani

The entrance to the Snow Wall is next to the rest area on the 1st floor of Murodo Station.

Visiting the Snow Wall is free, and no ticket is required. However, you can pick up a Snow Wall Pass at the entrance as a souvenir.

The snow wall is not far from Murodo Station. It’s about a 50-meter walk from the station to the entrance of the snow wall.

Two snowplows are parked in the square in front of the entrance for visitors to take photos with.

The section of the Snow Wall open to tourists is approximately 500 meters long. The highest point of the snow wall is located at the end of this section, so there’s no need to stop for photos at the beginning. The most spectacular part of the Snow Wall is at the very end.

This is the end of the Snow Wall, and the highest point is also here. When we visited in 2017, the highest point was 19 meters, close to the historical maximum height.

One side of the road is open for pedestrians, while the other side is reserved for the highland buses. The combination of the snow wall and the buses makes for a perfect photo opportunity, so whenever a bus approaches, everyone rushes to take pictures.

Below are photos of the Snow Wall taken from the Tateyama Highland Bus:

Below is a video of the Snow Wall taken from the Tateyama Highland Bus while traveling from Bijodaira to Murodo:

Exploring the Snow Corridor

Exploring the Snow Wall takes about 1 hour, but allowing 1.5 hours is more than enough. The Snow Wall is open daily from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. If you miss the opening hours, you can visit the shorter snow walls at the Snow Corridor behind Murodo Station.

From the 1st floor, go up two flights of stairs to the rooftop, and you can walk to the Snow Corridor.

The Snow Corridor is shorter and less impressive than the Snow Wall, and the ground is covered with snow, making it more difficult to walk.

The Snow Corridor is surrounded by hiking trails leading to the Murodo Plateau, but in April and May, they are still covered in snow. If you enjoy snow and snow activities, this is a great place to visit. If you’re worried about slipping on the snow, you can wear crampons while exploring the Snow Corridor.

The time spent exploring the Snow Corridor and the surrounding snowfields can vary. If you just want to take photos around the Snow Corridor, half an hour is enough, but if you want to venture further, you may need an hour or more. In summary, you should allocate at least 2 hours for exploring Murodo, and 3 hours would be ideal.

Tateyama Kurobe