Meihan Expressway

Meihan Expressway sign Meihan Expressway
E25 名阪国道
Route information
Maintained by MLIT
Length	73.3 km (45.5 mi)
Existed	1962–present
Component highways	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 25
Major junctions
East end	File:JP Expressway E23.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0001.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg Higashi-Meihan Expressway / National Route 1 / National Route 25 at Kameyama Interchange in Kameyama
Major intersections	File:JP Expressway E23.svg Ise Expressway in Kameyama File:Japanese National Route Sign 0163.svg National Route 163 in Iga File:Japanese National Route Sign 0422.svg National Route 422 in Iga File:Japanese National Route Sign 0369.svg National Route 369 in Nara
Section 1
West end	File:JP Expressway E25.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0169.svg Nishi-Meihan Expressway / National Route 169 at Tenri Interchange in Tenri
Location
Country	Japan
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan

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."

Naming

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 (名古屋) is pronounced as mei, whereas the second character of two-character kanji that represents Osaka (大阪) is pronounced as han.

History

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.

Interchange list

Prefecture	Location	km	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Mie	Kameyama	0.0	0.0	1	Kameyama	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0001.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 1 / National Route 25 – Central Kameyama, Otsu	Continued as File:JP Expressway E23.svg Higashi-Meihan Expressway to Nagoya. Signed as Interchange 33 for westbound exit and eastbound entrance.
		0.5	0.31	N/A	N/A	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0001.svg National Route 1 (Seki Bypass) – Yokkaichi, Suzuka	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance.
		1.7	1.1	N/A	Seki Junction	File:JP Expressway E23.svg Ise Expressway – Tsu, Ise	Interchange 34 on File:JP Expressway E23.svg Ise Expressway.
		2.8	1.7	2	Seki	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg Mie Prefecture Route 10 to National Route 25 – Seki File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 10 – Tsu	Meihan Seki Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange.
		6.1	3.8	3	Kuga	Kuga
				Seki Tunnel
		8.5	5.3	4	Mukai	Mukai
		10.5	6.5	5	Itaya	Itaya
		11.6	7.2	6	Minamizaike	Minamizaike
	Iga			Kabuto Tunnel
		16.7	10.4	7	Iga	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg National Route 25 – Tsuge
		16.9	10.5	Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound)
		18.6	11.6	8	Kamitsuge	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 4 (Iga Corridor Road) – Minakuchi, Koka (Tsuge)
		21.1	13.1	9	Shimotsuge	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 133 – Shimotsuge
		22.4	13.9	10	Midai	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 2 – Shindo, Iga, Oyamada
		23.1	14.4	11	Mibuno	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 49 – Ayama, Shigaraki (Oyamada)
		26.8	16.7	12	Igaichinomiya	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svgFile:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg Mie Prefecture Route 138 to National Route 163 – Kizugawa, Shimagahara
		29.2	18.1	13	Nakase	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0163.svg National Route 163 – Central Ueno, Oyamada
		31.3	19.4	14	Tomono	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 56 – Tomono, Central Ueno
		32.8	20.4	15	Uenohigashi	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0422.svg National Route 422 – Central Ueno, Aoyama
		34.0	21.1	16	Ueno	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0368.svg National Route 368 – Ueno, Nabari
		35.4	22.0	17	Ouchi	Ouchi, Onogi	Ueno Ninja Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange.
				Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only)
		38.3	23.8	18	Shirakashi	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 686 – Tsukigase, Shirakashi
		40.4	25.1	19	Hatta	File:Mie Pref Route Sign Template.svg Mie Prefecture Route 687 – Tsukigase, Kasagi (Hatta, Nabari)
Nara	Yamazoe	42.3	26.3	20	Satsukibashi	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 25 – Satsukibashi, Tsukigase (Nabari)
		45.0	28.0	21	Yamazoe	奈良県道80号標識 奈良県道80号標識 Nara Prefecture Route 80 – Yamazoe (Nara, Nabari)
		49.5	30.8	22	Konoguchi	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 25 – Konoguchi (Tsuge, Tsukigase)
	Nara	53.6	33.3	23	Ogura	Yamanami Road / File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg 奈良県道127号標識 奈良県道127号標識 National Route 25 / Nara Prefecture Route 127 – Ogura (Muro, Tsuge, Tsukigase)
		56.4	35.0	24	Hari	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0369.svg National Route 369 – Hari, Tsuge (Yagyu, Haibara, Muro, Yoshino)	Hari T.R.S, Michi-no-eki is adjacent to the interchange.
		58.7	36.5	25	Ipponmatsu	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 25 – Ipponmatsu (Inoichi, Fukusumi)
	Tenri	61.4	38.2	26	Fukusumi	File:Japanese National Route Sign 0025.svg National Route 25 – Fukusumi (Tenri, Chishawara, Inoichi, Bessho)
	Nara			Takamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only)
		67.6	42.0	27	Gokadani	Gokadani (Nara, Nakabatake, Maitani)
	Tenri	71.2	44.2	28	Tenrihigashi	奈良県道51号標識 奈良県道51号標識 Nara Prefecture Route 51 – Tenrihigashi (Tenri, Iwaya, Shirakawa)
		73.3	45.5	29	Tenri	奈良県道51号標識 奈良県道51号標識 File:Japanese National Route Sign 0169.svg Nara Prefecture Route 51 to National Route 169 – Tenri, Nara (Sakurai)	Continued as File:JP Expressway E25.svg 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       Incomplete access