is a V-shaped

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

located at Kurobe,

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The Kurobe Dam in Kurobe Gorge is one of highlights of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. The area was designated the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park on December 4, 1934.

Geology

Kurobe Gorge in a V-shaped gorge. The gorge is part of the Northern Japan Alps. It was formed by the

Kurobe River The is a river in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The river is in length and has a watershed of . The river rises from Mount Washiba in the Hida Mountains and carves the deep valley known as the Kurobe Gorge. It comes out of the mountains at Un ...

flowing to the Ushiro-Tateyama Mountain Range carving granite stones.

Geography

Shimonoroka

Shimonoroka, or ''lower corridor'', is the central Kurobe Gorge. Shimonoroka can be accessed by using the ''Nichiden hodo'' (Nichiden Trail) or ''Suihei hodo'' (Horizontal Trail). These trails are very dangerous; they can be only 20–50 cm wide and lie 500 m above the riverbed. In October 2019, five people died on the trails. File:Keyakidaira Station-3.jpg, Okukane Bridge File:Okukane Mountain.JPG, Okukane Mountain File:Kurobe-Gorge-railway-bridges-2019-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Kurobe Gorge in autumn

Kaminoroka

Kaminoroka means ''Higher corridor''.

Access

The gorge can be accessed by the Kurobe Gorge Railway operated by the Kurobe Gorge Railway Co. The train ride starts at Unazuki Station and ends at Keyakidaira Station. But during winter, the gorge can only be accessible by foot.

Attractions

Kurube Dam

Kurobe Dam is a hydroelectric dam operated by

Kansai Electric Power Company , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Bef ...

. It runs through the

. It is the tallest dam in Japan which the height of 186 meters. It began operation in 1961.

Kurobe Gorge Railway

Kurobe Gorge Railway is 20 km rail road operating from Unazuki Station to Keyakidaira Station. Parts of the railroad is under maintenance as of February 2025 due to the earthquake that hit Ishikawa in January 2024. The railroad operates between mid-April to the end of November and runs along the Kurobe River.

Unazuki Onsen

Unazuki Onsen is an located at the entrance of the gorge. It started operation in 1923.

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a 37.2 kilometers route that connects

and

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

. It run along the Kurobe Dam.

Nekomata Station

Nekomata Station is a train station of the Kurobe Gorge Railway. It is the only train station in Japan that includes the word . It was originally a station for construction workers, it was open to the public on October 4, 2024.

References

External links

* https://tatekuro.jp/en/about/area.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurobe gorge Canyons and gorges of Japan Chūbu-Sangaku National Park