Wildlife
Along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, you’ll find many rare animals, wild birds, and precious alpine plants, including species designated for national protection in Japan!
From June, the flowers come into bloom, making walks even more pleasurable.
Ptarmigan
There are about 2,000 ptarmigan living in Japan, and about 300 birds live in the Tateyama area. Cherished as messengers from God, it is said that encountering a ptarmigan heralds happiness. They change the color of their feathers with the seasons for camouflage from predators. There are many ptarmigan sightings around Mikurigaike.
Stoat
Despite their cute appearance, these animals are carnivores and a natural predator of ptarmigan. Like their prey, stoats also change the color of their coats depending on the season.
Japanese macaque
These monkeys can occasionally be seen grooming each other beside the road the bus travels along.
Aleutian Avens
A representative alpine plant, the delicate white blooms of Aleutian avens can be seen widely from June to August, carpeting the area in a scarlet hue come fall.
Daylilies
Daylilies bloom in the morning before wilting in the late afternoon. Each plant has around seven buds, each of them blooming on a different day.
