Yokohane Route (Kanagawa Route 1)

A metropolitan expressway approximately 20 kilometres long running from the northern end of Kosoku Daishi Bridge in Ota, Tokyo, to Ishikawacho Junction in Naka Ward, Yokohama. Opened in stages from 1968, the route reached its full length in February 1984, tracing the industrial and port belt of western Tokyo Bay.

Sixteen Years to Bridge Two Cities

The Yokohane Route — formally Shuto Expressway Kanagawa Route 1 — runs from the northern end of Kosoku Daishi Bridge in Ota Ward, Tokyo, south-west along the shore of Tokyo Bay to Ishikawacho Junction in Naka Ward, Yokohama. The total length is approximately 20 kilometres. The route was built to relieve the chronic congestion that had built up on National Routes 1 and 15, the parallel surface roads that formed the only high-capacity link between the centres of the two cities.

Construction proceeded in stages over more than sixteen years. The first segment opened in 1968 (Shōwa 43). In July 1971 the section between Higashi-Kanagawa and Asada — 6.8 kilometres — became the first stretch to open within Kanagawa Prefecture. A further 6.9 kilometres, from Asada to Haneda, followed in November the same year. Work continued through the 1970s, and on 2 February 1984 the final section — from Yokohama Park interchange to Ishikawacho Junction — was completed, closing the last gap in the line. From the first opening to the last, sixteen years of phased construction were needed to close the distance between Tokyo and Yokohama Harbour.

The Industrial Belt at Road Level

The corridor the Yokohane Route serves is one of Japan’s densest concentrations of heavy industry and port logistics. Elevated for most of its length, the highway runs roughly parallel to National Route 15 through Kawasaki’s petrochemical and steel districts, past Tsurumi’s port terminals, and on into Yokohama. Before the route was complete, moving freight and commuters between the two city centres meant sharing the ground-level roads with local traffic, slowing both.

The completed expressway separated long-distance vehicle flow from surface traffic, improving the logistics efficiency of a coastline that handles a substantial share of Japan’s industrial output. Via connections to the Bayshore Route, the Yokohane Route also ties into the wider expressway network linking Haneda Airport and Tokyo Port. Driving the route today, the view from the elevated carriageway — oil tanks, chemical plants, container cranes, and port installations rolling past on either side — offers an unfiltered look at how the western shore of Tokyo Bay has functioned as an industrial engine for most of the postwar era.

Summary

The Yokohane Route opened its first segment in 1968 and reached its full length of approximately 20 kilometres on 2 February 1984, after more than sixteen years of phased construction. Running from Ota Ward in Tokyo to Naka Ward in Yokohama along the western shore of Tokyo Bay, it threads through Kawasaki and Tsurumi — two of Japan’s most intensively industrialised stretches of coastline — before reaching Yokohama’s port district. Originally built to relieve surface-road congestion between the two cities, it has since become a core piece of the bay area’s freight infrastructure. If you drive it end to end, the sequence of plants, terminals, and port machinery visible from the elevated road is a reminder of how much the bay shore still drives the greater Tokyo economy.

Related: Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route | Yokohama Landmark Tower

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