The colour starts on the fifth of October, more or less. Minakami's tourism association publishes dates for each of its viewpoints, and for Tanigawadake it gives two: the Tenjindaira to Tenjin pass section around 5 October, and the stretch from the Doaiguchi base station up to Tenjindaira around the middle of the month. Ten days, and the season moves 400 metres downhill.

The ropeway climbs from Doaiguchi to Tenjindaira at 1,320 metres, and a chairlift continues to the pass above. The species change as you rise: mine maple, rowan and mine cherry near the top, and lower down ryobu, fan maple and urihada maple, so the character of the colour changes with the height and not only its timing.

Tanigawadake sits in Joshinetsu-kogen National Park, on the spine that divides the Pacific and Japan Sea sides of Honshu.

It should be said plainly that this mountain has a second reputation. The east face, Ichinokura-sawa, has killed more climbers than any wall in the country, and the memorial lists at the base are long. None of that touches the ropeway, which is a cable car to a meadow with a paved viewing area and a café. But the two things are the same mountain, and it is worth knowing which one you have bought a ticket for. Trainers are fine as far as Tenjindaira.