Tateyama Cable Car

The line grew out of a project by Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway (Tateyama Development Railway) to build a local railway between Senjōgahara and Bijodaira. The application was put before the Transport Council in August 1952, and on 22 August 1952 the council recommended that the licence be granted. Construction began on 8 December 1952. The funicular was originally intended to open on 1 August 1954, but the height of the laid rail and the specification of the rope-guide sheaves differed from the design, causing the haulage rope to come off; once countermeasures had been taken the line passed its completion inspection on 10 August, and authorisation to begin revenue service was obtained dated 13 August 1954.

The line accordingly opened on 13 August 1954, run by Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway between Senjugahara and Bijodaira. The lower terminus station, Senjugahara, was completed on 24 October 1954. The cable car carries freight as well as passengers: a goods wagon is frequently coupled below the passenger car on the Tateyama side, and on descending trains the conductor rides in a crew compartment fitted at the lower end of that wagon.

On 1 July 1955 the Tateyama Kōgen Bus began running between Bijodaira and Kōbō. With no road yet built to Bijodaira, the buses themselves were carried up there on the cable car's freight wagon — and to squeeze them through the line's narrow tunnel their tyres had to be deflated. The road up from Katsuradai to Bijodaira was not completed until 1970.

On 28 May 1969 Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun rode the line during a visit to Toyama Prefecture timed to the 20th National Tree-Planting Festival. On 1 July 1970 the lower terminus, until then named Senjugahara Station, was renamed Tateyama Station, the name it carries today.

The rolling stock and ownership changed in the 2000s. Second-generation cars entered service on 10 April 2003. Then on 1 October 2005 the operator Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway was merged into Tateyama Kurobe Kankō, and the funicular became a line of that company. As a result, Tateyama Kurobe Kankō has two separate funiculars that are both formally named the Cable Line. On 3 May 2022 a rockfall that closed the Tateyama Toll Road led to waits of up to three hours for the cable car.

Ageing equipment prompted a study, begun in 2018, into replacing the cable car with a ropeway between Tateyama and Bijodaira. Abandonment of the concept was announced on 30 May 2025, and the existing cable car equipment is to be renewed instead. The ride takes seven minutes on a reserved-boarding-time system, with cars normally running at twenty-minute intervals, and the line closes each winter from 1 December to 31 March.

4 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Bijodaira美女平
• Kurobedaira黒部平
• Kurobeko黒部湖
• Tateyama (Toyama)立山

• 195222 August: the Transport Council recommends that the licence sought by Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway to build a local railway between Senjōgahara and Bijodaira be granted.
• 19528 December: construction of the funicular begins.
• 195413 August: the line opens, run by Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway between Senjugahara and Bijodaira; a 1 August opening had been delayed by rope-derailment problems, with the completion inspection passed on 10 August.
• 195424 October: the lower terminus, Senjugahara Station (later Tateyama Station), is completed.
• 19551 July: the Tateyama Kōgen Bus begins running between Bijodaira and Kōbō; with no road yet to Bijodaira, the buses are carried up on the cable car's freight wagon, their tyres deflated to clear the narrow tunnel.
• 196928 May: Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun ride the cable car during a visit to Toyama Prefecture timed to the 20th National Tree-Planting Festival.
• 19701 July: Senjugahara Station is renamed Tateyama Station.
• 200310 April: second-generation cars enter service.
• 20051 October: Tateyama Kaihatsu Railway is merged into Tateyama Kurobe Kankō, and the funicular becomes a line of that company.
• 20223 May: a rockfall closure of the Tateyama Toll Road leads to waits of up to three hours for the cable car.
• 202530 May: a concept studied since 2018 to replace the cable car with a ropeway is announced as abandoned; the existing cable car equipment is to be renewed instead.