A gateway apparatus comprising: a plurality of physical devices (12; 12a), each of which includes a first gateway (7; 7A) which is a gateway with a first network and a second gateway (8, 8A) which is a gateway with a second network; a receiving unit configured to receive an establishment request message of a path including designation information of a second gateway and specification information to specify a second network; and a sorting processing unit; wherein the sorting processing unit being configured to select a first one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway designated by the designation information of the establishment request message from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) includes the second gateway designated by the designation information, select a second one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway connected to the second network specified by the specification information of the establishment request message from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the plurality of the physical devices (12; 12a) does not include the second gateway designated by the designation information, select a third one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway different from the second gateway included in the selected second one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the second gateway included in the second one of the plurality of selected physical devices (12; 12a) is in congestion or a degree of congestion exceeds a given threshold, and transmit an establishment request to a first gateway included in the selected one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a), wherein the first gateway receiving the establishment request is instructed to performs establishment processing for establishing a path connecting the first network with the second network with the second gateway included in the selected physical device, wherein the receiving unit and the sorting processing unit are coupled to each other and the sorting processing unit is configured to receive the establishment request message from the receiving unit. a plurality of physical devices (12; 12a), each of which includes a first gateway (7; 7A) which is a gateway with a first network and a second gateway (8, 8A) which is a gateway with a second network; a receiving unit configured to receive an establishment request message of a path including designation information of a second gateway and specification information to specify a second network; and a sorting processing unit; wherein the sorting processing unit being configured to select a first one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway designated by the designation information of the establishment request message from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) includes the second gateway designated by the designation information, select a second one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway connected to the second network specified by the specification information of the establishment request message from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the plurality of the physical devices (12; 12a) does not include the second gateway designated by the designation information, select a third one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) including a second gateway different from the second gateway included in the selected second one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) from among the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a) when the second gateway included in the second one of the plurality of selected physical devices (12; 12a) is in congestion or a degree of congestion exceeds a given threshold, and transmit an establishment request to a first gateway included in the selected one of the plurality of physical devices (12; 12a), wherein the first gateway receiving the establishment request is instructed to performs establishment processing for establishing a path connecting the first network with the second network with the second gateway included in the selected physical device, wherein the receiving unit and the sorting processing unit are coupled to each other and the sorting processing unit is configured to receive the establishment request message from the receiving unit.