People walk through a pathway with snow walls as tall as 17 metres each side of the road in Toyama prefecture on Monday. (Kyodo photo)TOYAMA, Japan: A sightseeing route running through the Tateyama mountain range in central Japan's Northern Alps opened on Monday, offering views at one point of snow walls as tall as 17 metres each side of the road. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route, which connects the town of Tateyama in Toyama prefecture and the city of Omachi in Nagano, is popular with its spectacles of mountains, valleys and waterfalls. Until June 22, visitors can walk through a pathway next to the high snow walls, called Huge valley of snow, created by snow removal work. The opening of the 37.2-kilometre-long sightseeing route for this season was pushed back one day because of heavy snowstorms.

Source: Bangkok Post April 16, 2018 09:22 UTC