# Meihan Expressway

The Meihan Expressway (名阪国道, Meihan kokudō) is a national expressway in Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture, Japan. The expressway is also known as the Meihan National Highway that is a literal translation of its Japanese name. Together with the Nishi-Meihan Expressway and Higashi-Meihan Expressway, it is the central portion of a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas. It is owned and operated by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 25 as well as E25 under their "Expressway Numbering System."

## Naming

Meihan is a Sino-Japanese pronunciation of two-character kanji acronym for Nagoya and Osaka (名阪). The first character of three-character kanji that represents Nagoya (名古屋) is pronounced as mei, whereas the second character of two-character kanji that represents Osaka (大阪) is pronounced as han.

## History

Construction on the Meihan Expressway began in March 1962, with an intended construction period of only one thousand days. The rapid construction of expressways in Japan at the time was spearheaded by Minister of Construction Ichirō Kōno in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It was opened as a two-lane expressway in December 1965.

## Interchange list

| Prefecture | Location | km | mi | Exit | Name | Destinations | Notes |
| Mie | Kameyama | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | Kameyama | National Route 1 / National Route 25 – Central Kameyama, Otsu | Continued as Higashi-Meihan Expressway to Nagoya. Signed as Interchange 33 for westbound exit and eastbound entrance. |
| Mie | Kameyama | 0.5 | 0.31 | N/A | N/A | National Route 1 (Seki Bypass) – Yokkaichi, Suzuka | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance. |
| Mie | Kameyama | 1.7 | 1.1 | N/A | Seki Junction | Ise Expressway – Tsu, Ise | Interchange 34 on Ise Expressway. |
| Mie | Kameyama | 2.8 | 1.7 | 2 | Seki | Mie Prefecture Route 10 to National Route 25 – Seki Mie Prefecture Route 10 – Tsu | Meihan Seki Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange. |
| Mie | Kameyama | 6.1 | 3.8 | 3 | Kuga | Kuga | |
| Mie | Kameyama | | | Seki Tunnel | Seki Tunnel | Seki Tunnel | Seki Tunnel |
| Mie | Kameyama | 8.5 | 5.3 | 4 | Mukai | Mukai | |
| Mie | Kameyama | 10.5 | 6.5 | 5 | Itaya | Itaya | |
| Mie | Kameyama | 11.6 | 7.2 | 6 | Minamizaike | Minamizaike | |
| Mie | Iga | | | Kabuto Tunnel | Kabuto Tunnel | Kabuto Tunnel | Kabuto Tunnel |
| Mie | Iga | 16.7 | 10.4 | 7 | Iga | National Route 25 – Tsuge | |
| Mie | Iga | 16.9 | 10.5 | Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound) | Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound) | Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound) | Michi-no-eki Iga (westbound / outbound) / Iga Service Area (eastbound / inbound) |
| Mie | Iga | 18.6 | 11.6 | 8 | Kamitsuge | Mie Prefecture Route 4 (Iga Corridor Road) – Minakuchi, Koka (Tsuge) | |
| Mie | Iga | 21.1 | 13.1 | 9 | Shimotsuge | Mie Prefecture Route 133 – Shimotsuge | |
| Mie | Iga | 22.4 | 13.9 | 10 | Midai | Mie Prefecture Route 2 – Shindo, Iga, Oyamada | |
| Mie | Iga | 23.1 | 14.4 | 11 | Mibuno | Mie Prefecture Route 49 – Ayama, Shigaraki (Oyamada) | |
| Mie | Iga | 26.8 | 16.7 | 12 | Igaichinomiya | Mie Prefecture Route 138 to National Route 163 – Kizugawa, Shimagahara | |
| Mie | Iga | 29.2 | 18.1 | 13 | Nakase | National Route 163 – Central Ueno, Oyamada | |
| Mie | Iga | 31.3 | 19.4 | 14 | Tomono | Mie Prefecture Route 56 – Tomono, Central Ueno | |
| Mie | Iga | 32.8 | 20.4 | 15 | Uenohigashi | National Route 422 – Central Ueno, Aoyama | |
| Mie | Iga | 34.0 | 21.1 | 16 | Ueno | National Route 368 – Ueno, Nabari | |
| Mie | Iga | 35.4 | 22.0 | 17 | Ouchi | Ouchi, Onogi | Ueno Ninja Drive-in is adjacent to the interchange. |
| Mie | Iga | | | Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only) | Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only) | Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only) | Iga-Ueno Parking Area (westbound / outbound only) |
| Mie | Iga | 38.3 | 23.8 | 18 | Shirakashi | Mie Prefecture Route 686 – Tsukigase, Shirakashi | |
| Mie | Iga | 40.4 | 25.1 | 19 | Hatta | Mie Prefecture Route 687 – Tsukigase, Kasagi (Hatta, Nabari) | |
| Nara | Yamazoe | 42.3 | 26.3 | 20 | Satsukibashi | National Route 25 – Satsukibashi, Tsukigase (Nabari) | |
| Nara | Yamazoe | 45.0 | 28.0 | 21 | Yamazoe | 奈良県道80号標識 Nara Prefecture Route 80 – Yamazoe (Nara, Nabari) | |
| Nara | Yamazoe | 49.5 | 30.8 | 22 | Konoguchi | National Route 25 – Konoguchi (Tsuge, Tsukigase) | |
| Nara | Nara | 53.6 | 33.3 | 23 | Ogura | Yamanami Road / 奈良県道127号標識 National Route 25 / Nara Prefecture Route 127 – Ogura (Muro, Tsuge, Tsukigase) | |
| Nara | Nara | 56.4 | 35.0 | 24 | Hari | National Route 369 – Hari, Tsuge (Yagyu, Haibara, Muro, Yoshino) | Hari T.R.S, Michi-no-eki is adjacent to the interchange. |
| Nara | Nara | 58.7 | 36.5 | 25 | Ipponmatsu | National Route 25 – Ipponmatsu (Inoichi, Fukusumi) | |
| Nara | Tenri | 61.4 | 38.2 | 26 | Fukusumi | National Route 25 – Fukusumi (Tenri, Chishawara, Inoichi, Bessho) | |
| Nara | Nara | | | Takamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only) | Takamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only) | Takamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only) | Takamine Service Area (westbound / outbound only) |
| Nara | Nara | 67.6 | 42.0 | 27 | Gokadani | Gokadani (Nara, Nakabatake, Maitani) | |
| Nara | Tenri | 71.2 | 44.2 | 28 | Tenrihigashi | 奈良県道51号標識 Nara Prefecture Route 51 – Tenrihigashi (Tenri, Iwaya, Shirakawa) | |
| Nara | Tenri | 73.3 | 45.5 | 29 | Tenri | 奈良県道51号標識 Nara Prefecture Route 51 to National Route 169 – Tenri, Nara (Sakurai) | Continued as Nishi-Meihan Expressway to Osaka. Signed as Interchange 6 for eastbound exit and westbound entrance. |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access ||||||||