The (lit. North Kantō Expressway) is a 4-laned national expressway in

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 north ...

. It is owned and operated by

East Nippon Expressway Company The , abbreviated as , is one of the main operators of expressways and toll roads in 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 ...

Overview

The route connects the capitals of the three northern prefectures in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It wa ...

Utsunomiya is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

, and Mito. The expressway begins at a junction with the

Kan-etsu Expressway The is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and managed by East Nippon Expressway Company. Naming is the '' kanji'' acronym of and the old comprising modern-day Niigata Prefecture. Officially, the Kan-Etsu consists of two routes. Bot ...

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...

and heads east along the southern edge of the prefecture. The route ends abruptly in the city of Ōta, however the route will be extended to a junction with the

Tōhoku Expressway The is a south-north national expressway, and the longest expressway in Japan at . Its southern terminus is in Kawaguchi, Saitama in the Greater Tokyo Area, at the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway and Kawaguchi Route near Araijuku Station, and its nort ...

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the nor ...

by 2011. The expressway then follows the route of the Tōhoku Expressway northward for about 13 km, then diverges from this expressway following an easterly course once more. It runs through the southern areas of Utsunomiya and heads into eastern areas of Tochigi Prefecture, where the route terminates once again in the city of Mooka. The section connecting Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures was scheduled to be completed in 2009. From Sakuragawa in western Ibaraki, the route continues towards a junction with the

Jōban Expressway The , abbreviated , is a national expressway in Japan. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company. It is signed E6 under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "2016 Proposal for Realization of Expressway N ...

and runs along the southern edge of the Mito city area, where the expressway has its final terminus. At the terminus, the Higashi-Mito Road continues towards the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

coastline using the same roadway. The route runs parallel to National Route 50 for most of its length.

List of interchanges and features

* IC - interchange, SIC -

smart interchange A is a feature of Japanese expressways that provides exclusive access to and from the expressway for vehicles equipped with electronic toll collection (ETC). The feature increases accessibility to and from the expressway in less-populated areas ...

, JCT - junction, SA - service area, PA -

parking area A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

, BR - bridge

References

External links

East Nippon Expressway Company

Ibaraki Kitakan (info page by Ibaraki Prefectural Government)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kita-Kanto Expressway Expressways in Japan Proposed roads in Japan Ashikaga, Tochigi