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August 14, 2026
 

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EXPRESSWAYS

Draft guidelines list expressways and some shinkansen lines as key areas of focus for infrastructure development.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2026
Japan to stop focusing on public works cost effectiveness
The government will shift its focus to an overall assessment that places an emphasis on basic functions to protect lives and livelihoods, under annual guidelines due next month.
An expressway toll gate in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, that only accepts cars equipped with ETC systems
JAPAN
May 6, 2026
ETC-only expressway gates increasing as Japan ditches cash toll payments
The number of interchanges that do not allow toll payments with credit cards and cash is increasing as Japanese operators aim to complete the transition by fiscal 2030.
A test run of a tourist bus on an expressway under Level 2 autonomous driving was carried out on Nov. 26 in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2026
Aichi Prefecture eyes Â鶹´«Ã½ first Level 4 autonomous expressway bus service
Aichi Prefecture aims to put buses with Level 4 autonomous driving, in which a vehicle can operate without a driver under specific conditions, into practical use in fiscal 2027.
The Nonobori tunnel on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, on Friday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2026
Six die in vehicle collision in Mie Prefecture tunnel
The accident that included a large cargo truck occurred at around 2:20 a.m.?in the Nonobori tunnel in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, sparking a fire, police said.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission plans to issue cease-and-desist orders to four road maintenance companies, including Subaru Enterprise, over bid rigging of Metropolitan Expressway cleaning contracts, sources have said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2026
JFTC to issue orders against firms over bid rigging of expressway cleaning jobs
The anti-monopoly watchdog is also set to fine two of the four companies for colluding to secure Metropolitan Expressway contracts, sources say.
The aftermath of a pileup crash on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture on Saturday, the day after the massive collision that left two people dead.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2025
Pileup involving 67 cars in Gunma leaves two dead and 26 injured
The accident is believed to have been triggered when a large truck collided with a midsize truck that had stopped sideways on the two-lane road.
Japan hopes to harness large-scale data obtained via its next-generation electronic toll collection system for a variety of purposes, including easing traffic congestion.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
Japan to broaden use of ETC¡¯s driving data for disaster response and tourism
The government aims to harness large-scale data from ETC 2.0 for a variety of public and economic purposes, including easing traffic congestion and improving disaster response.
Families of victims observe a moment of silence on the 13th anniversary of the Sasago Tunnel accident on Tuesday in the city of Otsuki in Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2025
Victims mourned on 13th anniversary of Sasago Tunnel disaster
During a ceremony Tuesday, Nexco Central President Tadashi Nawata apologized again to bereaved families for the tunnel incident that ¡°took the peaceful lives¡± of the victims.
The total length of Japan's expressways in service stood at 10,328 kilometers as of the end of March 2025.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2025
20 years after privatization, free expressways still 90 years away
The privatization was a key policy of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The Fair Trade Commission has raided four firms over suspected bid-rigging in relation to expressway cleanup contracts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2025
FTC inspects four firms over alleged bid-rigging for expressway cleanup deals
The companies are believed to have coordinated to ensure they could each continue to win orders for the same section and so make stable profits, sources said.
The transport ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, in some expressway sections between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Japan to test autoflow roads for self-driving freight vehicles
The ministry plans to introduce autoflow roads, which will be built on medians of expressways or underneath them, between Tokyo and Osaka in the mid-2030s.
A minivehicle that crashed head-on with another vehicle in the Enasan Tunnel in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, on June 11 after being driven the wrong way on the Chuo Expressway
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 18, 2025
Wrong-way driving on expressways proves a persistent problem in Japan
Around 200 cases of wrong-way driving on expressways are reported each year.
Nihonbashi bridge, long overshadowed ¡ª literally ¡ª by an elevated expressway, is at the center of a multidecade project to relocate the highway underground in hopes of restoring the scenery around the historically significant bridge.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025
Tokyo moves to restore open skies over historic Nihonbashi bridge
The elevated expressway is set to be completely removed in fiscal 2040 under a project expected to cost ?320 billion ($2.2 billion).
A blue car driving the wrong way on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Mie Prefecture, on Sunday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2025
Peruvian man held on suspicion of hitting vehicles while driving the wrong way
The Mie Prefectural Police believe the suspect continued to drive in the wrong direction after causing collisions.
A Fuchu expressway entrance in western Tokyo is closed on April 6 due to a glitch in the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system.
JAPAN
May 2, 2025
Central Nippon Expressway won¡¯t collect tolls after ETC glitch
About 960,000 vehicles are estimated to have been affected by the problem, which lasted some 38 hours.
Bento boxes and other food items attract visitors at the Sera roadside station in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 21, 2025
10 years on, Hiroshima-Shimane highway boosts logistics and tourism
The Chugoku Yamanami Highway has played a crucial role in regional development since its full opening in 2015.
A Fuchu expressway entrance in western Tokyo is closed Sunday due to a glitch in the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025
Tollbooths now operational after ETC malfunction causes mass confusion
It was?the first time such a large-scale problem?involving the ETC system has occurred since Japanese expressways were privatized in 2005.
ETC lanes are closed at a toll booth on the Chuo Expressway in the city of Mitaka in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025
Malfunctioning tollbooths snarl traffic around Honshu
The Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system was unusable at over 90 tollbooths in seven prefectures ¡ª Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Aichi, Gifu, and Mie.
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway¡¯s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital¡¯s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025
Tokyo¡¯s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
The line will become a pedestrian-focused green space called Tokyo Sky Corridor, with sections opening in phases before its full relaunch in 2035.
Officials from the Meteorological Agency hold a news conference about the heavy snow forecast, on Sunday in the city of Saitama.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
Snow forces highway closures in Tokyo
The closures are set to begin at around 4 p.m. for major routes including the Tomei Expressway, Shin-Tomei Expressway?and Joshinetsu Expressway.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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