A giant snow corridor has been plowed through the Northern Alps in central Japan. The route has reopened to traffic after being closed all winter.



The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route links Tateyama Town in Toyama Prefecture and Omachi City in Nagano Prefecture with transportation services including buses and cable cars. A snow-packed section that stretches about 37 kilometers is closed during the winter.



Traffic resumed on Tuesday for the first time in about four-and-half months. The temperature at the Murodo Terminal at a height of 2,450 meters was minus 2.4 degrees Celsius at 9 a.m.



Occasional blizzard conditions prompted officials to cancel a ceremony in which visitors walk the snow corridor.
A visitor from Osaka Prefecture said she is disappointed because she was looking forward to walking the snow corridor. She wants to come again when the weather is good.



Mikado Kaname, the president of the Teteyama Kurobe Kanko which operates the route, said he is sorry for the bad weather on the opening day. He said there was lots of snow this year, so visitors should be able to enjoy the snow corridor for a long time.



The company expects about 824,000 visitors to the route this year, about the same as last year.