The Meihan Expressway (名阪国道, Meihan kokudō) is a national expressway in Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture, Japan. The expressway is also known as the Meihan National Highway that is a literal translation of its Japanese name. Together with the Nishi-Meihan Expressway and Higashi-Meihan Expressway, it is the central portion of a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas. It is owned and operated by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 25 as well as E25 under their "Expressway Numbering System."[1]

Meihan Expressway sign
Meihan Expressway
E25 名阪国道
Route information
Maintained by MLIT
Length73.3 km (45.5 mi)
Existed1962–present
Component
highways
National Route 25
Major junctions
East end Higashi-Meihan Expressway / National Route 1 / National Route 25 at Kameyama Interchange in Kameyama
Major intersections
Section 1
West end Nishi-Meihan Expressway / National Route 169 at Tenri Interchange in Tenri
Location
CountryJapan
Highway system

Naming

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Meihan is a Sino-Japanese pronunciation of two-character kanji acronym for Nagoya and Osaka (名阪). The first character of three-character kanji that represents Nagoya (古屋) is pronounced as mei, whereas the second character of two-character kanji that represents Osaka (大) is pronounced as han.

History

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Construction on the Meihan Expressway began in March 1962, with an intended construction period of only one thousand days. The rapid construction of expressways in Japan at the time was spearheaded by Minister of Construction Ichirō Kōno in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It was opened as a two-lane expressway in December 1965.[2]

Interchange list

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PrefectureLocationkmmiExitNameDestinationsNotes
MieKameyama0.00.01Kameyama   National Route 1 / National Route 25Central Kameyama, OtsuContinued as   Higashi-Meihan Expressway to Nagoya. Signed as Interchange 33 for westbound exit and eastbound entrance.
0.50.31N/AN/A  National Route 1 (Seki Bypass) – Yokkaichi, SuzukaEastbound exit and westbound entrance.
1.71.1N/ASeki Junction  Ise ExpresswayTsu, IseInterchange 34 on   Ise Expressway.
2.81.72Seki   Mie Prefecture Route 10 to National Route 25 – Seki
  Mie Prefecture Route 10 – Tsu
Meihan Seki Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange.
6.13.83KugaKuga
Seki Tunnel
8.55.34MukaiMukai
10.56.55ItayaItaya
11.67.26MinamizaikeMinamizaike
IgaKabuto Tunnel
16.710.47Iga  National Route 25 – Tsuge
16.910.5Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound)
18.611.68Kamitsuge  Mie Prefecture Route 4 (Iga Corridor Road) – Minakuchi, Koka (Tsuge)
21.113.19Shimotsuge  Mie Prefecture Route 133 – Shimotsuge
22.413.910Midai  Mie Prefecture Route 2 – Shindo, Iga, Oyamada
23.114.411Mibuno  Mie Prefecture Route 49 – Ayama, Shigaraki (Oyamada)
26.816.712Igaichinomiya   Mie Prefecture Route 138 to National Route 163 – Kizugawa, Shimagahara
29.218.113Nakase  National Route 163Central Ueno, Oyamada
31.319.414Tomono  Mie Prefecture Route 56 – Tomono, Central Ueno
32.820.415Uenohigashi  National Route 422 – Central Ueno, Aoyama
34.021.116Ueno  National Route 368Ueno, Nabari
35.422.017OuchiOuchi, OnogiUeno Ninja Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange.
Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only)
38.323.818Shirakashi  Mie Prefecture Route 686 – Tsukigase, Shirakashi
40.425.119Hatta  Mie Prefecture Route 687 – Tsukigase, Kasagi (Hatta, Nabari)
NaraYamazoe42.326.320Satsukibashi  National Route 25 – Satsukibashi, Tsukigase (Nabari)
45.028.021Yamazoe
 
奈良県道80号標識
Nara Prefecture Route 80 – Yamazoe (Nara, Nabari)
49.530.822Konoguchi  National Route 25 – Konoguchi (Tsuge, Tsukigase)
Nara53.633.323OguraYamanami Road /  
 
奈良県道127号標識
National Route 25 / Nara Prefecture Route 127 – Ogura (Muro, Tsuge, Tsukigase)
56.435.024Hari  National Route 369 – Hari, Tsuge (Yagyu, Haibara, Muro, Yoshino)Hari T.R.S, Michi-no-eki is adjacent to the interchange.
58.736.525Ipponmatsu  National Route 25 – Ipponmatsu (Inoichi, Fukusumi)
Tenri61.438.226Fukusumi  National Route 25 – Fukusumi (Tenri, Chishawara, Inoichi, Bessho)
NaraTakamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only)
67.642.027GokadaniGokadani (Nara, Nakabatake, Maitani)
Tenri71.244.228Tenrihigashi
 
奈良県道51号標識
Nara Prefecture Route 51 – Tenrihigashi (Tenri, Iwaya, Shirakawa)
73.345.529Tenri
 
奈良県道51号標識
  Nara Prefecture Route 51 to National Route 169 – Tenri, Nara (Sakurai)
Continued as   Nishi-Meihan Expressway to Osaka. Signed as Interchange 6 for eastbound exit and westbound entrance.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

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  1. ^ "Japan's Expressway Numbering System". www.mlit.go.jp.
  2. ^ Asai Kenji (2015-10-10). 日本の道路がわかる辞典 [A Dictionary of Japanese Roads] (in Japanese) (初版 ed.). 日本実業出版社. ISBN 978-4-534-05318-3.
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