is a Japanese national highway connecting the two cities of

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

and

Abashiri is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Abashiri is known as the site of the Abashiri Prison, a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the cit ...

in northeastern

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. The highway begins at an intersection with National Routes 12 and 40 in Asahikawa. It travels northeast across the northern side of Hokkaido to Abashiri where it ends at an intersection with the paired National Route 244 and National Route 391.

Route description

National Route 39 is a highway in northern Hokkaido that runs north from

. Its southern terminus lies at an intersection in central Asahikawa where it meets National Routes 12 and 40. Along the way from Asahikawa to Abashiri, it passes through the town of Kamikawa and the city of

Kitami is a Cities of Japan, city in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the most populous city and the commercial center in the subprefecture, although the subprefecture capital is Abashiri, Hokkaido, Abashiri. Kitami is physically in th ...

. Its northern terminus in Abashiri is at an intersection where it meets National Route 244 and National Route 391.

History

National Route 39 was preceded by the Abashiri Road, a Meiji period road built to link the current cities of Asahikawa and Abashiri. Ordered by

Genrōin The was a national assembly in early Meiji Japan, established after the Osaka Conference of 1875. It is also referred to as the Senate of Japan, being the word used to describe the Roman Senate, and other western legislatures named after it. ...

secretary

Kaneko Kentarō was a statesman, diplomat, and legal scholar in Meiji period Japan. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he drew on his connections in the American legal community over the course of his long career in Japanese government, particularly in his ro ...

, construction on the road began in April 1886. It was completed by making use of prison labor from the prisoners that were to be incarcerated at

Abashiri Prison is a prison in Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture that opened in 1890. The northernmost prison in Japan, it is located near the Abashiri River and east of Mount Tento. It holds inmates with sentences of less than ten years. Older parts of the prison ...

in northeastern Hokkaido. The prison laborers were mainly political dissidents that Kaneko viewed as morally deficient. Construction of the Abashiri Road and the others leading from the more-developed southern part of Hokkaido to the prison were of strategic importance to Japan, which viewed Hokkaido as being vulnerable to an invasion from their neighbor, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. On 4 December 1952 the highway was designated by the

Cabinet of Japan The is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the emperor after being designated by the National Diet, and up to nineteen other members, called Ministers of State. The prime ...

as Primary National Highway 39 between Asahikawa and Abashiri. On 1 April 1965 it was reclassified as General National Highway 39 without any changes being made to its routing.

Major junctions

The route lies entirely within

References

External links

039 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...

Roads in Hokkaido {{Portal bar, Roads, Japan