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. Both begin in Tokyo and end in Niigata Prefecture. The Kan-Etsu Expressway Niigata Route consists of the entire Kan-Etsu Expressway from Nerima to Nagaoka, as well as the Hokuriku Expressway beyond Nagaoka to its terminus in the city of Niigata. The Kan-Etsu Expressway Jōetsu Route is concurrent with the Niigata Route until Fujioka Junction, where it branches off as the Jōshin-etsu Expressway and traverses Nagano Prefecture to its terminus in Jōetsu, Niigata.
Route description
The expressway begins in Nerima Ward in the north of Tokyo; the Kan-etsu is the only national expressway linking Tokyo that does not have a direct connection with the urban Shuto Expressway network. A junction with the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway near the origin links the Kan-etsu with other expressways serving northern parts of the Tokyo urban area. From here the expressway follows a roughly northwesterly course to its terminus in Niigata Prefecture, passing through central areas of Saitama Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture. In Gunma the Kan-etsu Expressway provides access to Nagano Prefecture by way of the Jōshin-etsu Expressway at Fujioka Junction, and the completion of the Kita-Kantō Expressway in 2011 facilitated access to Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture. The mountainous area separating Gunma and Niigata Prefectures is traversed by the Kan-Etsu Tunnel, the second longest road tunnel in Japan. The expressway then passes through southern Niigata Prefecture before terminating at a junction with the Hokuriku Expressway in Nagaoka. The route is six lanes from Ōizumi Junction to Shibukawa-Ikaho Interchange, and all other sections are four lanes. The expressway parallels National Route 17 and the Jōetsu Shinkansen of East Japan Railway Company for most of its length.
History The first section opened in 1971 and the entire route was opened to traffic in 1985.
On the night of 16 December 2020, about 1,000 vehicles were trapped on the expressway after a trailer blocked it off due to it becoming stuck in the snow. In response, the company that manages the route supplied drivers who were stuck on the road until the next morning. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force was also deployed to the expressway to aid in the distribution of supplies to the stranded drivers.
In December 2025, a crash involving 50 vehicles in snowy conditions killed 2 people.
List of interchanges and features
IC - interchange, SIC - smart interchange, JCT - junction, SA - service area, PA - parking area, TB - toll gate, BS - bus stop, CB - snow chains, TN - tunnel, BR - bridge
No.NameConnectionsDist. fromoriginDist. fromterminusBus stopNotesSpeed limitLocation1Nerima ICMet. Route 24 (Nerima Tokorozawa Route / Mejiro Dōri)0.0246.280 km/hNerimaTokyo2Ōizumi JCT Tokyo Gaikan Expressway0.8245.0IC entrance: Nagaoka-bound onlyŌizumi ICMet. Route 24 (Nerima Tokorozawa Route / Mejiro Dōri)TBNiiza Toll Gate↓↑NiizaSaitama100 km/h3Tokorozawa IC (Urawa Tokorozawa Bypass)9.4237.6TokorozawaPAMiyoshi PA/SIC13.9233.1Miyoshi4Kawagoe IC21.2225.9KawagoeBSKawagoe-Matoba BS↓↑○4-1Tsurugashima JCT Ken-Ō Expressway27.8219.3Tsurugashima5Tsurugashima IC29.6217.55-1Sakado-Nishi SICPref. Route 39 (Kawagoe Sakado Moroyama Route)32.5214.6SakadoSATakasaka SA34.7212.4Higashi-matsuyama6Higashi-matsuyama ICPref. Route 47 (Fukaya Higashimatsuyama Route)39.4207.76-1Ranzan-Ogawa ICPref. Route 11 (Kumagaya Ogawa Chichibu Route)47.4199.7RanzanPARanzan PA50.1197.07Hanazono IC56.1191.0Fukaya7-1PAYorii PA63.4183.7SIC: Nagaoka-bound onlyFukaya/Yorii8Honjō-Kodama IC69.6177.5Honjō8-1SAKamisato SA/SIC75.5170.6Kamisato9Fujioka JCT Jōshin-etsu Expressway78.6167.5FujiokaGunma9-1Takasaki-Tamamura SIC (Takasaki-Tamamura Bypass)82.7163.4Takasaki9-2Takasaki JCT Kita-Kantō Expressway84.6161.510Takasaki ICPref. Route 27 (Takasaki Komagata Route)87.0159.111Maebashi IC92.1154.0Takasaki/Maebashi11-1PAKomayose PA/SIC98.5147.6Yoshioka12Shibukawa-Ikaho IC (Shibukawa Bypass)103.4142.7Shibukawa80 km/hBRNo.1 Tonegawa Bridge↓↑Length: 784 mCBMiharada CB↓↑Nerima-bound only12-1/PAAkagi IC/PAPref. Route 70 (Ōmama Kamishiroi Route)111.2134.9SAAkagi-kōgen SA118.5127.6Shōwa12-2Showa ICPref. Route 65 (Shōwa Inter Route)120.6125.513Numata IC125.8120.3NumataCBNumata CB↓↑Nagaoka-bound only14Tsukiyono IC131.1115.0MinakamiPAShimomoku PA135.5110.6BRŌmine Bridge↓↑Length: 784 m15Minakami IC141.0105.1PATanigawadake PA146.0100.1TNKan-Etsu Tunnel↓↑Nerima-bound 11,055 mNagaoka-bound 10,926 m70 km/hYuzawaNiigataPATsuchitaru PA157.588.680 km/h16Yuzawa IC167.079.1○TNIshiuchi Tunnel↓↑Nerima-bound 1,590 mNagaoka-bound 1,502 mMinami-uonumaSAShiozawa-Ishiuchi SA(173.5)72.3Nerima-bound only16-1/SAShiozawa-Ishiuchi IC/SAPref. Route 28 (Shiozawa Yamato Route)175.570.6SA: Nagaoka-bound onlyBRNakanojima Bridge↓↑Length: 460 m17Muikamachi IC186.959.2○BRHakkai Bridge↓↑Length: 610 m17-1/PAYamato PA/SIC198.347.818Uonuma IC204.441.7○Uonuma18-1/PAHorinouchi IC/PAPref. Route 84 (Horinouchi Inter Route)212.134.0BRKawaguchi Bridge↓↑Nagaoka19/SAEchigo-Kawaguchi IC/SAPref. Route 83 (Kawaguchi Shiodono Route)220.925.2○TNYamamotosan Tunnel↓↑Nerima-bound 1,838 mNagaoka-bound 1,804 mOjiya20Ojiya IC228.817.3○100 km/hPAYamaya PA230.915.2BSKatakai BS235.011.1○BSKoshiji BS238.57.6○Nagaoka20-1Nagaokaminami-Koshiji SICPref. Route 23 (Kashiwazaki Takahama Horinouchi Route)↓↑21Nagaoka ICPref. Route 86 (Nagaoka Inter Route)244.51.6○80 km/h(37)Nagaoka JCT Hokuriku Expressway246.10.0Through to Hokuriku Expressway
References
External links
East Nippon Expressway Company