The is a four lane national expressway in the TÃ Âkai region of Japan. It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company.
Meihan is a kanji acronym of two characters. The first character represents Nagoya (Ã¥ÂÂå¤å±Â) and the second character represents Osaka (大éª). Higashi (æ±) means east; together with the Meihan Expressway and Nishi-Meihan Expressway, it forms a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas.
Officially, the route is designated as the Kinki Expressway Nagoya Osaka Route, however this designation does not appear on any signage. In some areas, signs on the route are written in Japanese as <small>æ±</small>Ã¥ÂÂéªé or ã²ãÂÂãÂÂÃ¥ÂÂéªéÂÂ; this is to prevent confusion with the Tà Âmei Expressway which looks similar when written in Japanese.
The expressway runs from Nagoya-nishi Junction in Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya to Ise-Seki Interchange in Tsu. The expressway is built to the same standards as most other national expressways, with tolls being charged according to the distance traveled. It has at least two lanes in each direction, with three in some sections.
The first section of what would later become the Higashi-Meihan Expressway opened to traffic in 1970.
In March 2023, a "Higashi-Meihan car crash" occurred near the Kameyama Junction in Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture, killing three people and seriously injuring five others.
The exit numbers continue from the sequence of the Mei-Nikan Expressway, starting at 23.