page_title: Controlled-access highway
section_title: Japan
hierarchical_section_title: Controlled-access highway / Regional variation / Asia / Japan
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: نقشه شبکه آزادراههای ملی ژاپن
context_page_description: A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms include Interstate and throughway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highway with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
  In countries following the Vienna convention, the motorway qualification implies that walking and parking are forbidden, and they are reserved for the use of motorized vehicles only.
  A controlled-access highway provides an unhindered flow of traffic, with no traffic signals, intersections or property access. They are free of any at-grade crossings with other roads, railways, or pedestrian paths, which are instead carried by overpasses and underpasses. Entrances and exits to the highway are provided at interchanges by slip roads, which allow for speed changes between the highway and arterials and collector roads.
context_section_description: National expressways (高速自動車国道, Kōsoku Jidōsha Kokudō), generally known as 高速道路 (Kōsoku Dōro), make up the majority of controlled-access highways in Japan. The network boasts an uninterrupted link between Aomori Prefecture at the northern part of Honshū and Kagoshima Prefecture at the southern part of Kyūshū, linking Shikoku as well. Additional expressways serve travellers in Hokkaidō and on Okinawa Island, although those are not connected to the Honshū-Kyūshū-Shikoku grid. Expressways have a combined length of 9,341 km (5,804 mi) as of April 2017.
caption: Map of Japanese Expressways with numbering scheme
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