Tomei Expressway Full Opening Day

What Is Tomei Expressway Full Opening Day?

Every May 26th is "Tomei Expressway Full Opening Day" (東名高速道路全通記念日, Tōmei Kōsoku Dōro Zentsū Kinenbi) in Japan. On May 26, 1969, the last remaining section between Oi-Matsuda IC and Gotemba IC opened, completing the Tomei Expressway (東名高速道路, Tōmei Kōsoku Dōro) along its entire length of about 346.7 kilometers, from Tokyo IC to Komaki IC in Aichi Prefecture near Nagoya (名古屋). Running roughly parallel to the historic Tokaido corridor, the Tomei Expressway became the backbone of Japan's postwar expressway network and remains one of the country's busiest highways.

The Tomei Expressway's Significance

At Komaki, the Tomei connects with the Meishin Expressway, which had been fully opened in 1965, so its completion linked Tokyo and Osaka by expressway for the first time. The route passes through the industrial corridor that includes Yokohama, Shizuoka, and Hamamatsu, and carries an enormous volume of freight — trucks transporting goods between factories, ports, and distribution centers — as well as passenger vehicles. The expressway regularly sees heavy congestion during holiday periods such as New Year, Golden Week, and Obon.

Building Through the Mountains

The final section to open, the roughly 25.8 km between Oi-Matsuda and Gotemba, threads through narrow valleys between the Hakone and Tanzawa mountains. Within it, the stretch of only about 14 kilometers between Matsuda and Yamakita alone cost 25.4 billion yen to build. Rather than passing through Atami or Mishima, the route was laid out to go around via Gotemba. Although the straight-line distance from Tokyo IC to Komaki IC is about 248 km, the expressway itself is about 346.7 km — nearly the same as the Tokaido Shinkansen's distance from Tokyo to Nagoya.

Japan's Expressway Network

The Tomei Expressway was a key early element of Japan's national expressway network (高速道路, kōsoku dōro), which now stretches for thousands of kilometers. Since the privatization of the Japan Highway Public Corporation in 2005, the Tomei has been operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO Central), one of the NEXCO companies. Japan's expressways are known for their maintenance standards and their service areas (SA) and parking areas (PA) — rest stops that often feature local cuisine and have themselves become destinations. To handle growing traffic, the parallel Shin-Tomei Expressway has since been built.

Fun Facts

• Service area food: Japan's expressway service areas are famous for their food offerings — many feature regional specialties, and comparing service area food has become a small hobby among Japanese road travelers.
• Mt. Fuji views: The Tomei Expressway's Shizuoka Prefecture section offers views of Mt. Fuji — Fujikawa Service Area is especially well known for them — making the drive itself a scenic experience.