The (New) End of the Road

If you want to ride on an expressway in Japan - you're going to get on a toll road - because ALL of the expressways carry tolls.  The toll roads were privatized in 2005 under a government reorganization of the Japan Public Highway system. In my part of Japan, the East Nippon Expressway Company, or NEXCO East, administers the toll road system. Unfortunately, almost all the information I've seen about NEXCO East is written in Japanese only.

Recently, our "local" toll road was lengthened to a new terminus near my house in Mabori Kaigan. In English, the road I'm referring to is called the "Yokohama - Yokosuka Toll Road", known to the local Americans as the "Yoko-Yoko". The road connects the southern part of Yokohama to Yokosuka - a distance of approximately 14.5 kilometers (9 miles). This road segment ties directly into the Shuto Expressway system of Yokohama / Tokyo - leading directly to both major cities. The new extension of the roadway, continues like a "beltway" around the central part of Yokosuka - to the new terminus at Mabori Kaigan - my neighborhood - a distance of about 2 miles.  In addition to the Yoko-Yoko's roll as a "connector" and beltway expressway, there is a short 2 mile spur from the Yokosuka Interchange, that leads directly to downtown Yokosuka.

The new section of roadway is mostly a two-lane road. It connects to the "Sahara" Interchange in Kinugasa - and includes three new exits along it's two miles of roadway: Kurihama, Uraga, and Mabori Kaigan. It includes a tunnel segment, a large portion in a boat section at the top of a mountain, and a very large portion on structure as it approaches the terminus. I have no idea how much this roadway cost - but it couldn't have been cheap!

Like all limited access roadways in Japan, the Yoko-Yoko is a toll road. The tolls in Japan are pretty steep -
they average about $1 per mile - depending on the exchange rate. It is less expensive if you have an Electronic Toll Collection reader in your car - but these are difficult for foreigners to acquire. My family of four has used the tollways to get to Tokyo for weekend getaways, and to travel to Tokyo Disney (actually located in Chiba prefecture) - but never for local travel within / or around Yokosuka / Yokohama.

To me it appears that the tolled expressway system of Japan is used primarily for trucking and long distance travel, but like my family's experience, not for many routine short trips. This is vastly different from how I used the interstate system when I lived in US cities as varied as San Diego, CA; Norfolk, VA; Orlando, FL; and Boston, MA.