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

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is owned and operated by East Nippon Expressway Company.

Overview

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

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

: Maebashi,

Utsunomiya is the capital and largest city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 513,584, 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 expressways of Japan, 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 consist ...

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, 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 . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

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 in

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

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 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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

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

parking area A parking lot 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. In most jurisdic ...

, BR -

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, colspan="8" style="text-align:center;", Through to Higashi-Mito Road

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 2000 establishments in Japan