The of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
make up a large network of
controlled-access toll expressways.
History
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Japan's economic revival led to a massive increase in personal automobile use. However the existing road system was inadequate to deal with the increased demand; in 1956 only 23% of
national highways were paved, which included only two thirds of the main
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
-
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
road (
National Route 1).
In April 1956 the
Japan Highway Public Corporation (JH) was established by the national government with the task of constructing and managing a nationwide network of expressways. In 1957 permission was given to the corporation to commence construction of the
Meishin Expressway linking
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
and
Kobe,
the first section of which opened to traffic in 1963.
In addition to the national expressway network administered by JH, the government established additional corporations to construct and manage expressways in urban areas. The Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation (responsible for the
Shuto Expressway) was established in 1959, and the Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation (responsible for the
Hanshin Expressway) was established in 1962. By 2004 the lengths of their networks had extended to and respectively.
In 1966 a plan was formally enacted for a national expressway network. Under this plan construction of expressways running parallel to the coastlines of Japan would be given priority over those traversing the mountainous interior.
In 1987, the plan was revised to extend the network to . In April 2018, completed sections of the network totaled
In October 2005 JH, the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation, the Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation, and the Honshū-Shikoku Bridge Authority (managing three fixed-link connections between
Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
and
Shikoku) were privatized under the reform policies of the government of Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi. These privatizations are technically converting the corporations into
stock companies with no stock sold to the general public, since the
Government of Japan
The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state ...
hold controlling shares in the successor companies. The expressway network of JH was divided into three companies based on geography -
East Nippon Expressway Company (E-NEXCO),
Central Nippon Expressway Company
The , abbreviated as , is one of the main operators of expressways and toll roads in Japan. It is headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.
The company was established on October 1, 2005 as a result of the privatization of Japan Highway Public C ...
(C-NEXCO), and
West Nippon Expressway Company (W-NEXCO). The Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation transferred its authority to the Metropolitan Expressway Company, while the Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation transferred its authority to the Hanshin Expressway Company. The Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority became the
Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company, whose operations are planned to eventually be absorbed into those of W-NEXCO.
Finances
Japan's expressway development has been financed largely with debt. It was intended to make the expressways free when they are paid off. The
Meishin Expressway and
Tomei Expressway debt has been fully paid off since 1990. It was decided in 1972 that tolls would be pooled from all expressways to provide a single source of operating funds, since some sections were little used. Earthquake resistant construction methods have added to costs, as well as extensive
soundwall
A noise barrier (also called a soundwall, noise wall, sound berm, sound barrier, or acoustical barrier) is an exterior structure designed to protect inhabitants of sensitive land use areas from noise pollution. Noise barriers are the most effect ...
ing. In March 2009 (then) Prime Minister
Taro Aso unveiled a plan to reduce tolls to ¥1,000 on weekends and national holidays. Tolls on weekdays would be cut by around 30 percent. According to the National Expressway
Construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
Association, 4.41 million vehicles use the expressways daily, driving an average of .
National expressways
make up the majority of expressways in Japan. This network boasts an uninterrupted link between
Aomori Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...
at the northern part of
Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
and
Kagoshima Prefecture at the southern part of
Kyushu, linking
Shikoku as well. Additional expressways serve travellers in
Hokkaido
is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
and on
Okinawa Island, although those are not connected to the Honshu-Kyushu-Shikoku grid.
Features
Most expressways are four lanes with a
central reservation
The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ...
(median). Some expressways in close proximity to major urban areas are six lanes, while in rural areas are constructed as undivided
two-lane expressway
A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes ris ...
. Two-lane expressway sections are built to a standard that allows conversion to four lanes in the future.
Speed limits for passenger cars, motorcycles, and buses defaults to with a minimum speed of , unless otherwise posted. The maximum speed limits for heavy trucks, trailers and three-wheelers are set at . Vehicles unable to reach 50 km/h, such as
tractors and
mopeds, are forbidden from using the expressways. The highest posted speed limit is in some sections of expressways in Central and Eastern Japan.
Variable speed limits are also in effect on most expressways and speeds are temporarily reduced due to adverse driving conditions.
Many rest facilities such as
parking areas (usually only with toilets or small shops) and
service areas (usually with many more amenities such as
restaurants and
gas station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Gasolin ...
s) serve travellers along national expressways.
Route numbering
On October 24, 2016, the Japanese
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism had introduced a new format of
route numbering system for national expressways.
Expressway route numbers begin with the prefix E or C (for circular route) followed by their respective numbers. Expressway routes are numbered according to the parallel
national highway National highway or National Highway may refer to:
* National Highways (England)
* National Highway (Australia)
* List of National Roads in Belgium
* Brunei National Roads System
* National Highway System (Canada)
* Trans ...
routes; for example, the
E1 Tomei Expressway runs parallel with the
National Route 1. However, there are exceptions in this rule, and some expressways that are assigned with the two-digit numbers greater than 59 which are not used for the national highway route numbers. The
E64 Tsugaru Expressway is an example of this exception as it parallels
National Route 101.
If there are more than one expressway being constructed in parallel with their respective national highways, newer expressways within the same corridor carry the suffix A at the end of their route numbers. For example, the
Chūgoku Expressway
The (part of Asian Highway Network ) is an expressway in Japan, which extends from Suita, Osaka to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. It connects Kansai and Chūgoku regions in western Honshu, Japan's main island. Other major cities along the expressw ...
and
San'yō Expressway both run in parallel along the
National Route 2 corridor and the San'yō Expressway is assigned the route code of E2 for being constructed first, and the newer Chūgoku Expressway is assigned the route number of E2A.
Tolls
National expressways are expensive to use, with the journey from
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
to
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
on the
Tōmei Expressway costing ¥7,100 (roughly $70 or £50) in tolls for an ordinary car. According to the Japan Times, expressway tolls in Japan are three times as high as in France.
With a few exceptions, tolls on national expressways are based on distance travelled. When entering the expressway, one collects a ticket, which can be inserted along with the fare into a machine or handed to an attendant upon exiting the expressway. There is also an
Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) card system installed in many cars which automatically pays at the toll gate. As of 2001 toll fees consist of a 150
yen terminal charge plus a fee which depends on the distance travelled. The rate of this fee depends on the type of vehicle as shown in the following table.
Tolls are always rounded to the nearest 10 yen and include
consumption tax. If there are two or more possible routes from the entrance to the exit, the toll will be calculated based on the shortest (cheapest) route.
Tolls collected from all routes are pooled into a single fund and are used to repay the entire network.
It is expected that all national expressways in Japan will be fully repaid 45 years after privatization (2050).
Some future national expressways are planned to be built according to the New Direct Control System, whereby national and local governments will absorb the burden for expressway construction and operate toll-free upon completion.
Urban expressways
are intra-city expressways that are found in many of Japan's largest urban areas. Due to the nature of urban expressways going through dense urban areas combined with weak
eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
powers in Japan, urban expressways have much lower design speed compared to national expressways and are constructed as viaducts or as underground tunnels along existing arterial roads.
The two largest urban expressway networks are the
Shuto Expressway in the
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
area and the
Hanshin Expressway in the
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
area. There are other smaller networks in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
,
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...
,
Kitakyūshū
is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one o ...
, and
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...
. Each network is managed separately from each other (the
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...
and
Kitakyūshū
is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one o ...
Expressways are managed by the
same company but are not physically connected to each other).
Safety
In 2019, there were 163 fatalities, 527 serious injuries and 11,702 minor injuries on all expressways, all of which were lower than in 2018.
Others
All roads in Japan that are built to expressway standards (including national and urban expressways themselves) are known as . If a road for motor vehicles only cannot be classified as a national or urban expressway, it may be classified into one of the following categories.
*
**Roads in this category are built to facilitate future incorporation into the main route of a national expressway. Examples include the
Michinoku Toll Road, the
Higashi-Mito Road
The is a four-lane toll road in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.
Route description
The route is officially designated as a bypass for National Route 6; however, it is functionally an ext ...
and the
Futtsu Tateyama Road
The is a 2-laned toll road in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.
Overview
The route is officially designated as a bypass for Route 127 (Japan), National Route 127, however it is functionally an e ...
.
*
**Roads in this category are national highways built to expressway standards as designated by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Examples include the
Ken-Ō Expressway
The , or , is a partially completed ticket system toll expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by the Central Nippon Expressway Company and East Nippon Expressway Company. In conjunction with the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line and the Bayshore Rout ...
and the
Tōkai-Kanjō Expressway
The (lit. Tōkai Ring Expressway) is a toll road in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and managed by Central Nippon Expressway Company.
Naming
Officially, the route is designated as National Route 475. On some signs, the expressway is re ...
.
References
External links
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Road Bureau全国の高速道路ガイド��
{{DEFAULTSORT:Expressways Of Japan
*
Lists of roads in Japan
Transport systems