Changes

Lots of expressways radiate off Tokyo's local highway system (首都 ''shuto''). So what you want to do is pick a destination, match it to an expressway, and get to the closest PA/SA. Here's the list in clockwise order from west to east, you will probably find it useful to consult a 1:10000 Japanese map to get your bearings. Most English highway signs will not distinguish short and long vowels, but your driver will, so pronounce it right!

A preliminary notes about buses: in general, Tokyo's commuter bus system sucks. They run very infrequently (typically 1/hr in the boonies), have a lunch break of several hours, and stop running early. Try to get to the bus station before 11 in the morning, or you'll probably have to wait until 2 in the afternoon for the next one!

=== Tōmei Expressway (東名) ===

'''For''': [[Fuji]]/[[Gotemba]], [[Hakone]], [[Nagoya]], [[Kansai|western Japan]]<br />

'''Where''': Kōhoku PA (港北) [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kohoku+PA+(down)/@35.5389744,139.5291629,17z/ google]<br />

EXPASA ashigara (EXPASA足柄) is a huge rest area and thus is extremely good for hitching to and from Tokyo. It is a bit far from Tokyo though and you should only use it as an intermediate hitchhiking location and not as a location to get out of the city.

=== Chūō Expressway (中央) ===

'''For''': [[Fujiyoshida]], [[Lake Kawaguchi]], [[Nagano]], [[Gifu]], [[Nagoya]] & [[Kansai|western Japan]] (slow route)<br />

'''Where''': Ishikawa SA (石川)<br />

''Note'': Chuo branches a few times, be sure you know what branch you want to go to and what branch your driver will go to. The first is Ootsuki Junction (大月), where the road splits between the Nagano and Fujiyoshida branches; the last SA before the junction is Dangōzaka (談合坂).

=== Kan'etsu Expressway (関越) ===

'''For''': [[Niigata]], [[Sado Island]], [[Chubu|Japan Sea coast]]<br />

'''Where''': Miyoshi PA (三芳)<br />

'''Alternative''': Nerima IC (練馬), approx 1 km from Seibu Ikebukuro line (西武池袋線) Shakujii-kouen (石神井公園) station<br />

'''Cost from Yamanote line''': ~500 yen<br />

Directions: Take the Tōbu Tōjō (東武東上) line from [[Tokyo/Ikebukuro|Ikebukuro]] to Tsuruse station. From the station, take Raifu Basu #4 to the Sentoraru Byōin (センとラル病院) stop, as usual it runs once per hour except during lunchtime. The bus will deposit you on the wrong side of the parking area, cross the bridge to get to the side going away from Tokyo. Alternatively, you can walk the 3 km or so from Fujimino station; there should also be a bus from Fujimino, but it didn't seem to exist...

=== Tōhoku Expressway (東北) ===

'''For''': [[Utsunomiya]], [[Sendai]], [[Miyagi]]-[[Iwate]] coast, [[Tohoku|northern Japan]], [[Hokkaido]]<br />

'''Where''': Hasuda PA (蓮田)<br />

'''Directions''': Go to Hasuda station on the JR Utsunomiya (宇都宮) line, starting from [[Tokyo/Shinjuku|Shinjuku]] or [[Tokyo/Chiyoda|Tokyo]]. Take the east exit and locate platform #3, take Tōbu (東武) bus #4 to Shiyakusho-mae (市役所前). Right before the stop the bus actually goes under the expressway, return to the bridge (don't go under it!) and head a few hundred meters up the hill/to the north along the expressway until you reach the PA. The gate may be locked, but the fence is low and jumping over it is no problem.

=== Jōban Expressway (常磐) ===

'''For''': [[Mito]], [[Iwaki]], [[Sendai]] (slow route)<br />

'''Where maybe''': Mukōjima IC (向島) up the riverside and across the bridge from Asakusa or Kahei PA (加平) from Kita-Ayase (北綾瀬) on Eidan Chiyoda subway, both on Shuto 6 connecting to Jōban<br />

Warning: If you get on at Mukōjima IC, the road soon joins Shuto C2, after which C2 branches off again towards the Tōhoku Expressway. Make sure you know where your driver is going!

=== Higashi-Kantō Expressway (東関東) ===

'''For''': [[Narita]], [[Boso Peninsula]]

95% of the time, once on the expressway, getting back to Tokyo is a piece of cake: your driver is also going to Tokyo, so he'll drop you off at the nearest train or subway station, and you can find your way home. Problems arise the other 5% of the time, when your driver is going either through Tokyo or to a part of Tokyo extremely far from your part of Tokyo. What to do?

=== Shuto Service Areas ===

If the service area is one of those listed above, you know how to get back. If not, you have been left at a service area not listed for a good reason. Almost all the 15+ parking areas on the Shuto are tiny (space for around 20 cars max), suspended multiple stories above the earth with entrance/exit possible only through staff quarters, and inconviniently located to boot. However, as getting out is a lesser crime, you may be able to sweet-talk somebody into unlocking those staff-only doors and letting you out, as long as you promise not to come back in.

At any rate, I've only ended up in this situation once so far, so here's the beginning of a new list, sorted by route number.

=== Shuto 3 (高速3号) ===

'''Connecting to''': Tōmei

=== Shuto 4 (高速4号) ===

==== Eifuku PA (永福) ====

'''Access''': Nobori only<br />

Small. Somewhat oddly located right next to a row of tollbooths and an exit (which thus cannot be used even illegally, since they'll spot you if you try to walk it!). If you do find your way out, Meidaimae station at the crossing of both Keio lines is nearby (ask for directions).

==== Yoyogi PA (代々木) ====

'''Access''': Nobori only<br />

A pathetic one-lane excuse for a parking area quite literally suspended three stories above the earth. Climbing over the fence would be easy if the drop weren't likely to kill you; there's also an expressway entrance nearby, but as noted earlier, walking on it is highly illegal and dangerous to boot. The third option was shown to me by a janitor to whom I pleaded my distress: at the furthestmost tip (from your arrival point) of the building is a door, which leads to a staircase, which leads outside. The doors along the route may, or may not, be locked. Once you do get out, one block straight and a few to the right will get you to Yoyogi station on the Yamanote/O-Edo lines. (Odakyu line Minami-Shinjuku station is also nearby.)

==== Kahei PA (加平） ====

'''Access''': Kudari only<br />

Located inside a highway entrance spiral, this one may actually be accessible from the ground. Kita-Ayase (北綾瀬) station on the Eidan Chiyoda subway line is about half a kilometer to the east along the large road that crosses under the highway between the entrances.

==== Kawaguchi PA (川口） ====

The PA is only on the side that goes back to Tokyo. If you're trying to go to Tōhoku, you need to get on the Tōhoku-dō.

==== Niikura PA (新倉） ====

'''Access''': Both directions<br />

Small. Close to Wakō-shi. Often omitted even from highway maps since it doesn't belong to either the kousokudouro or the shuto systems!

== Personal Experiences ==

== Food ==

=== Food Eating Challanges ===

'''Kentas Steak House''' (by reservation only) offers rewards for eating sets of 200g steaks with vegetables above a certain quantity. After eating 14 sets, the meal is free; the 15th set yields a 200 yen prize, and the 20th set yields a 4,200 yen prize.

''Address:'' Japan, 〒162-0825 Tōkyō-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka, 1 Chōme−14 Tōhō-biru 1F [35.70092N, 139.7428E]

'''Aburasoba Kasugatei Ikebukuro''' offers a 5,000 yen prize for consuming 3 of their extra large portions of aburasoba in 30 minutes. In order to participate, you must buy 2 extra large portion meal tickets. They also offer a 10,000 yen prize for consuming 4 of their extra large portions in 40 minutes. In order to participate, you must buy 3 extra large portion meal tickets.

''Address:'' Japan, 171-0021 Tōkyō-to, Toshima-ku, Nishiikebukuro, 1 Chōme-5-4 [35.72786N, 139.7084E]

== Nomadwiki & Trashwiki ==