Which direction of Tateyama Alpine Route

I have some questions regarding the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine route. I have plan to visit the Alpine Route and also the Snow Wall this year during the third week of May.

However, I heard that the route is busy especially on weekends, which is actually in my plan.

The problem is which direction is more busy and require more waiting time: between Toyama to Shimano-Omachi OR Shimano-Omachi to Toyama? I don�ft mind travelling in either direction as long as it requires less time to travel along Alpine Route :-)

Apart from this, I plan to visit Kanazawa, Nagano, Matsumoto etc. (including Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka)

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

It does not really make that much difference - as both get quite a bit of traffic. If you want to go to Matsumoto - then leaving from Toyama reasonably early will make a big difference. Leaving just a little bit earlier should cut down the crowd by quite a bit. Nagano and Kanazawa is best done before arriving at Toyama. Also - have you considered Takayama w/ a side trip in Shirakawa-go....

When we travelled on the Alpine Route during late April from west to east there were huge crowd and there was long wait especially for the Bijodaira to Murodo bus. We did notice comparatively less people travelling on the opposite direction. So consider an overnight stay in Matsumoto, start early the next day for the Alpine Route and you can bed down in Kanazawa.

The problem is which direction is more busy and require more waiting time: between Toyama to Shimano-Omachi OR Shimano-Omachi to Toyama?

We did the Alpine Route in late May 2009. Stayed overnight at Toyama and caught the earliest train the next morning at around 6:00 AM.

We took our time since it was not crowded, possibly not weekend, I could not remember.

However, around 11 AM , midway, we noticed many big tour groups arriving from the opposite direction, I assumed from Shimano-Omachi.
I guess big crowd could come from either directions . My advice : whichever direction you decide ,depart early.

Thank you all for answers. I guess 'depart early' and 'travel on weekday' are key points :-)

I did the Alpine Route in April 2010. The passenger traffic was very bad from Tateyama to Murado. Do not carry big heavy baggage on those various mode of transportation. Send it ahead to the next hotel.
We stayed overnight at Tateyama Hotel in Murado and we went on to Shinano Omachi next day. There was no one except few people on the various transportation down from Murado to Shinano Omachi. However, passenger traffic on the opposite direction from Kurobe to Murado was very bad.
So either way up to Murado is very bad.

Staying at the hotel in Murado was worthwhile. I highly recommend it.