Japan National Route 6


National Route 6 is a Japanese highway from Tokyo to Sendai that goes through the cities Mito, Iwaki and Sōma. It traces the old Mito Kaidō route from Tokyo to Mito, and, for much of its route, it runs parallel to the Jōban railway line and the Jōban Expressway.

Route description

Originating in Chūō, Tokyo, it ends in Miyagino-ku, Sendai
Major cities and villages it passes through include: Kashiwa, Toride, Tsuchiura, Ishioka, Mito, Hitachi, Iwaki, Tomioka, Ōkuma, Sōma, Watari, Iwanuma
The actual terminus is Iwanuma in Miyagi which is the junction of Routes 4 and 6. In the areas north of Iwanuma which overlap with the Route 4, signboards for Route 6 are not posted. The distance from Tokyo to Iwanuma is. This is equivalent to the distance from Mito to Kakegawa / Ichinoseki.

Overlapping sections

The following sections of Route 6 overlap with other routes:

Effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

One side of National Route 6 is known as the "nuclear dense zone". Tōkaimura, Ōkuma and Naraha are located on adjacent of Route 6.
Due to the nuclear disaster, access is prohibited to a zone of radius from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. National Route 6 was blocked for non-authorized traffic between Hirono and Haranomachi. The ban was lifted in September 2014 after the road decontamination, and vehicles are now allowed on the stretch of road.

History

National Route 6 is a part of the lengthened Tōkaidō which connects the Kansai region (Kinai), or Nara and Kyoto in particular, and the Pacific coast of Tōhoku. During the Ritsuryō period, roads from Kinai to the Tagajō were divided into two: the Tōkaidō eastern sea road and the Tōsandō eastern mountain road. During the foundation of Kamakura Kanagawa, Ritsiryō Tōkaidō was divided into two roads: the westward Tōkaidō which connects southern Kantō and Kyoto, and the northward Tōkaidō which connects southern Kantō and Pacific coasts of Tōhoku. Since the foundation of Edo, Tōkaidō was narrowed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the westward Tōkaidō functioned as a seaside road to Kyoto and the northward Tōkaidō functioned as one to the Pacific coasts of Tōhoku.
On 4 December 1952 the Ritsuryō Tōkaidō north of Tokyo was designated First Class National Highway 6, while the other section was designated as National Route 1. On 1 April 1965 the route was re-designated as General National Highway 6. On 12 March 2011, access to a large section of National Route 6 was restricted due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster between Hirono and Haranomachi.

List of major junctions