Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

  Not to be confused with Kurobe Dam, Kurobe Gorge's mini train ('Kurotetsu' in Japanese) is actually in Toyama Prefecture, to the west of Nagano Prefecture. It is on the same river that serves the dam, obviously, and the railroad itself was built to enable construction of the dam. However, while there may be a much faster route from the dam to the gorge via railway, it took us just over 4 hours of driving due to traffic and having to travel through the mountains.
  May 1st was opening day for the mini railroad, and we had luckily reserved our seats well in advance, because the place was packed. Definitely worth the trip if you ever find yourself up that way, however!

                              Couldn't resist

                                     The mini train right after it leaves the station

                            Views from on board



                             Lunch at the end of the line: masuzushi--salmon or trout laid on a bed of rice, then wrapped in bamboo leaves and pressed into round cedar containers

                        A lot of the area at the top was closed off due to a landslide, but what we could see was beautiful