Fall foliage colors in Kurobe River valley on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Kurobe Dam is Japan's tallest dam at 186 meters / 610 ft. Built with many difficulties over 7 years, it was completed in 1963. Over 170 people lost their lives to the project. Its hydropower plant supplies electricity to the Kansai Region. Kurobe Dam spans across Kurobe Lake in an arc, and it can be accessed via electric bus from the east or the cablecar from the west. Visitors walk over the dam to get between the bus and cablecar stations in about 10-15 minutes. At the eastern end of the dam, a long flight of stairs leads up the concrete-covered mountain slope for an aerial view of the dam and its surroundings. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route carries visitors across the Northern Japan Alps via cablecars, trolley buses and a ropeway. Completed in 1971, this transportation corridor connects Toyama City in Toyama Prefecture with Omachi Town in Nagano Prefecture. The Tateyama Mountain Range lies within Chubu Sangaku National Park.
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