The is a four lane national expressway in the Tōkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company.
Naming Meihan is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Nagoya (名古屋) and the second character represents Osaka (大阪). Higashi (東) means east; together with the Meihan Expressway and Nishi-Meihan Expressway, it forms a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas.
Officially, the route is designated as the Kinki Expressway Nagoya Osaka Route, however this designation does not appear on any signage. In some areas, signs on the route are written in Japanese as 東名阪道 or ひがし名阪道; this is to prevent confusion with the Tōmei Expressway which looks similar when written in Japanese.
Route description
The expressway runs from Nagoya-nishi Junction in Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya to Ise-Seki Interchange in Tsu. The expressway is built to the same standards as most other national expressways, with tolls being charged according to the distance traveled. It has at least two lanes in each direction, with three in some sections.
History The first section of what would later become the Higashi-Meihan Expressway opened to traffic in 1970.
In March 2023, a "Higashi-Meihan car crash" occurred near the Kameyama Junction in Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture, killing three people and seriously injuring five others.
List of interchanges and features
The exit numbers continue from the sequence of the Mei-Nikan Expressway, starting at 23. IC - interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - junction, PA - parking area, SA - service area, TB - toll gate, TN - tunnel
No.NameConnectionsDist. fromNagoya-nishi JCTBus StopNotesLocation Through to Nagoya Expressway Manba Route23Nagoya-nishi JCT0.0Nakagawa-ku, NagoyaAichi Prefecture24Nagoya-nishi ICPref. Route 40 (Nagoya Kanie Yatomi Route)0.8TBNagoya-nishi Toll GateAma25Kanie ICPref. Route 65 (Ichinomiya Kanie Route)3.6Kanie -Saya JCT Ichinomiya-Nishiko Road (planned)Aisai26Yatomi IC9.0Yatomi27Nagashima ICPref. Route 7 (Suigō Kōen Route)Pref. Route 117 (Tado Nagashima Route)Pref. Route 168 (Tatsuta Nagashima Inter Route)12.7KuwanaMie28Kuwana-higashi IC16.0PAŌyamada PA17.029Kuwana ICPref. Route 63 (Hoshigawa Nishibessho Route)19.929-1Yokkaichi JCT / Shin-Meishin Expressway23.3YokkaichiBSChiyoda Bus StopXClosed30Yokkaichi-higashi ICPref. Route 64 (Kamiebi Mochibuku Route)25.8SAGozaisho SA27.2BSAgata Bus StopXClosed31Yokkaichi IC32.2BSNishiyama Bus StopXClosed32Suzuka ICPref. Route 27 (Kanbe Nagasawa Route)41.8SuzukaTBSuzuka Toll GateClosed March 13, 200532-1Kameyama JCT46.9KameyamaBSSumiyama Bus StopXClosedPAKameyama PA/SIC52.1Highway Oasis33Kameyama IC53.2Ise-Seki-bound exit, Nagoya-bound entrance only34Ise-Seki IC55.1Ise-Seki IC ←→ Higashi-Meihan: No AccessTsuThrough to
References
External links Central Nippon Expressway Company