Japan National Route 279

National Route 279 (国道279号, Kokudō Nihyaku nana-jukyūgō) is a national highway of Japan that traverses the prefectures of Aomori and Hokkaido, as well as the Tsugaru Strait that separates them. The 134.0-kilometer (83.3 mi) highway begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in Hakodate, then crosses the Tsugaru Strait on a ferry from Hakodate to Ōma, Aomori, that it shares with National Route 279, where it then travels south through eastern Aomori Prefecture, passing through the city of Mutsu before ending at an intersection with National Route 4 in Noheji.

National Route 279
国道279号
Japan National Route 279 highlighted in red
Route information
Length134.0 km[1] (83.3 mi)
Existed1970–present
Major junctions
North end National Route 5 / National Route 278
in Hakodate, Hokkaido
 
South end National Route 4
in Noheji, Aomori
Highway system
National highways of Japan
Expressways of Japan
← National Route 278→ National Route 280

National Route 279's path across Aomori follows one of the oldest roads in northern Japan, a pilgrimage path called the Tanabu Kaidō (田名部街道) to Mount Osore, a caldera believed in Japanese mythology to be a gate to the underworld.

Route description

Hakodate

National Route 279 begins at an intersection with National Route 5 in central Hakodate, east of Hakodate Station. The highway travels southwest through the city, then curves to the northwest, and turns northeast towards the former site of the city's ferry terminal, which was moved to the northwest of Hakodate Station. The highway's brief 1.8-kilometer (1.1 mi) route in Hokkaido ends at the former terminal, which has since been converted into a retail area.[2] Aside from the last 100 meters (330 ft) of the highway near the ferry terminal, the highway also carries the Main Line of the Hakodate City Tram in its median.[3]

Aomori Prefecture
National Route 279 along the coast of the Tsugaru Strait

The highway is then carried south across the Tsugaru Strait via the Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry to Ōma on the northern tip of Aomori Prefecture's Shimokita Peninsula. From the route's northern terminus in Hakodate to Ōma, National Route 338 runs concurrent with National Route 279; however, in Ōma, National Route 338 leaves the concurrency, traveling south while Route 279 heads southeast towards Mutsu. In Aomori, Route 279 is known as the Mutsu Hamanasu Line, named after the hamanasu, known in English as the Rosa rugosa, a shrub-like rose that grows on the beaches of Japan.[4][5]

In Mutsu, it intersects with the northern end of the Mutsu Bypass, an auxiliary parallel route of the highway, and routes 279 and 338 briefly meet again, sharing a short concurrency. After traveling through the central district of the city together, National Route 338 leaves National Route 279 at the southern end of the Mutsu Bypass. It continues its path southeast across the peninsula while National Route 279 heads south towards Yokohama, and eventually Noheji at the southern base of the peninsula. The highway reaches a rest area on the north shore of the Miho River in Yokohama.[6] Between Yokohama and Noheji, National Route 279 is closely paralleled by the Shimokita Expressway, a highway signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279 that has supplanted the original route as the main thoroughfare between Yokohama and Noheji. The two highways meet at junction in southern Yokohama, where the original route continues south along Mutsu Bay while the expressway takes a more inland route through the village of Rokkasho. Upon entering Noheji, the route travels southwest through sparsely populated coastal woodlands before entering the central part of the town where it curves to the south. After passing by the town hall, the route terminates at an intersection with National Route 4.[7]

Average daily traffic

National Route 279 is maintained by the Road Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which conducts surveys on the Japan's national routes and expressways every five years to measure their average daily traffic. In 2015, the most utilized point along the route, was at the junction between it and Aomori Route 7 in Mutsu, where a daily average of 9,440 vehicles traveled on National Route 279. The least busy section of the highway was between the ferry terminal at Ōma and the intersection where the highway meets National Route 338, it carried an average of only 1,337 vehicles.[8]

History
National Route 279 near the old ferry terminal in Hakodate

National Route 279 was preceded by the Tanabu-kaidō (田名部街道), a road established by the Nanbu clan during the Edo period as a branch of the longer Ōshū Kaidō (now known as National Route 4). It traveled between Noheji-shukuba and the Buddhist temple and folk religion pilgrimage destination of Mount Osore, believed to be a mystical gate to the underworld in both Ainu mythology and Japanese Buddhism,[9] near the former town of Tanabu (now part of Mutsu). The road appears on maps as early as 1647, and by 1699 it was labeled as the Tanabu-kaidō on a map produced by the Nanbu. Pilgrimages along the Tanabu-kaidō to Mount Osore date back to 862, but its uncertain if the establishment of a maintained road took place before the Nanbu built it.[10]

National Route 279 was established by the Cabinet of Japan in 1970 along the Tanabu-kaidō between Noheji and Ōma, the ferry linking Ōma and Hakodate, and the short section in Hakodate.[11][12] Since its designation, bypasses of the original route have been built, these include the incomplete, limited-access Shimokita Expressway between Noheji and Yokohama, as well as the Nimaibashi Bypass in Mutsu.[13] On 1 February 2012, a blizzard trapped 329 people on the highway in Aomori Prefecture.[14]

Major intersections
PrefectureLocationkm[15][16]miDestinationsNotes
HokkaidoHakodate0.00.0 National Route 5 / National Route 278 north – to Sapporo, Oshamambe, Mount ENorthern terminus; northern end of Route 338 concurrency
1.20.75Hokkaido Route 675 (Tachimachi Misaki Hakodate Teishajō route)
1.71.1Hokkaido Route 457 (Hakodate Gyokō route)
Tsugaru Strait1.8–
28.8		1.1–
17.9		 Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry
AomoriŌma30.018.6 National Route 338 south – to Hotokegaura, SaiSouthern end of Route 338 concurrency
Mutsu60.337.5Aomori Prefecture Route 4 – to Osorezan
69.743.3Aomori Prefecture Route 266 east – to Shiriyazaki
74.546.3 National Route 279 south (Mutsu Bypass)
75.346.8 National Route 338 (Ōminato Bypass)
76.047.2Aomori Prefecture Route 6
76.547.5 National Route 338 northNorthern end of National Route 338 concurrency
76.947.8Aomori Prefecture Route 6 north – to Shiriyazaki
77.248.0 National Route 279 north (Mutsu Bypass) / National Route 338 south – to Hachinohe, MisawaSouthern end of National Route 338 concurrency
78.648.8Aomori Prefecture Route 4 north – to Osorezan, Central Mutsu
91.156.6Aomori Prefecture Route 7 east – to Odanosawa
Yokohama103.564.3Aomori Prefecture Route 179 – to Yokohama Town office, Mutsu-Yokohama Station, Rokkasho
105.865.7Aomori Prefecture Route 179 north – to Yokohama Town office, Mutsu-Yokohama Station
111.469.2 National Route 279 south (Shimokita Expressway) – to Aomori, TowadaYokohama-Fukkoshi Interchange
Noheji121.975.7Aomori Prefecture Route 180 east – to Rokkasho, Noheji-kita Interchange
128.279.7Aomori Prefecture Route 5 east – to Rokkasho, Noheji-kimyō Interchange
131.781.8Aomori Prefecture Route 243 west – to Aomori
132.482.3Aomori Prefecture Route 246 east – to Mizuhami
133.082.6Aomori Prefecture Route 178
134.083.3 National Route 4 / National Route 45 – to Towada, Shichinohe, Aomori, Shichinohe-Towada StationSouthern terminus; National Route 45 is not signed
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary routes

Shimokita Expressway
Main article: Shimokita Expressway

The Shimokita Expressway is an incomplete two-lane national expressway in Aomori Prefecture that is signed as an auxiliary route of National Route 279. The expressway travels south from Yokohama through the municipalities of Rokkasho and Noheji, where the main section of the expressway currently ends at an interchange with National Route 4.[17] A short expressway stub opened in Mutsu in December 2019. When completed, the expressway will stretch 68 kilometers (42 mi) from Mutsu south to the town of Shichinohe.[18]

Mutsu Bypass

The Mutsu Bypass is a 2.2-kilometer-long (1.4 mi) auxiliary route of National Route 279 in the central district of Mutsu. From its northern terminus with its parent route, it heads southeast and crosses over the Jotachi River. It has a junction with the Ōminato Bypass, an auxiliary route of National Route 338. After this junction the Mutsu Bypass travels south, paralleling the main line of National Route 279 until it reaches its southern terminus at the junction of National Routes 279 and 338.[19][20]

See also
  •  Japan portal
  •  Roads portal

References
  1. "一般国道の路線別、都道府県別道路現況" [Road statistics by General National Highway route and prefecture] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  2. Google (11 October 2019). "Route 279 in Hakodate" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. "ICASMAP2" (PDF). City of Hakodate (Map) (in Japanese). 21 January 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. "「はまなすライン」の改良について" [Improvement of the Hamanasu Line]. Aomori Prefecture Government. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  5. "Flower Calendar". Imperial Household Agency. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  6. "michinoeki-Yokohama". Michi-no-Eki Website. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  7. Google (10 October 2019). "Route 279" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  8. 平成27年度全国道路・街路交通情勢調査 一般交通量調査 箇所別基本表 [2015 Traffic Report by intersection] (PDF) (Report). Washington State Department of Transportation. 2015. p. 7. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  9. Chris Bamforth (22 December 2006). "Mountain of dread". The Japan Times. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  10. Aomori Prefecture Folklore Museum (29 March 1986). 青森県「歴史の道」調査報告書 [Aomori Prefecture Historic Roads Survey Report] (in Japanese). Aomori Prefecture Board of Education. p. 1. JPNO 000001805973.
  11. "一般国道の路線を指定する政令" [Cabinet Order Designating General National Routes]. Act of 1965 (in Japanese). Cabinet of Japan. Retrieved 10 October 2019 – via Wikisource.
  12. "ノスタルジック航路（函館〜大間航路）" [Nostalgic Route (Hakodate-Ōma)]. Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  13. "道路施設・高規格道路建設課（道路整備）" [Road Facilities and Expressway Construction Section (Road Improvement)]. Aomori Prefecture Government (in Japanese). 1 July 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  14. "「いつになったら動く」鳥取の大雪、立ち往生１５時間超" ["When will it move?" Heavy Snow in Tottori causes 15-hour Traffic Jam]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 24 January 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  15. Google (11 October 2019). "Route 279 in Hakodate" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  16. Google (10 October 2019). "Route 279" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  17. "下北半島縦貫道路｜青森県庁ウェブサイト Aomori Prefectural Government" [Shimokita Expressway: Aomori Prefectural Government website]. www.pref.aomori.lg.jp. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  18. "下北道むつ南バイパスが一部開通" [Partial opening of the Shimokita Mutsu South Bypass] (in Japanese). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  19. "一般国道２７９号 下北半島縦貫道路「むつ南バイパス」 交通開放（開通）のお知らせ" [National Highway 279 Shimokita Peninsula Expressway "Mutsu-minami Bypass" (opening)] (PDF) (in Japanese). 29 November 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  20. Google (17 February 2020). "Mutsu Bypass" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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