is a Japanese highway from Tokyo to Sendai that goes through the cities Mito, Iwaki and Sà Âma. It traces the old Mito Kaidà  route from Tokyo to Mito, and, for much of its route, it runs parallel to the Jà Âban railway line and the Jà Âban Expressway.
Originating in Chà «à Â, Tokyo (at Nihonbashi, which also marks the origins of Routes 1, 4, 14, 15, 17 and 20), it ends in Miyagino-ku, Sendai (at the Nigatake interchange, junction with Route 45, also the origin of Route 47)
Major cities and villages it passes through include: Kashiwa, Toride, Tsuchiura, Ishioka, Mito, Hitachi, Iwaki, Tomioka, Ã Âkuma, SÃ Âma, Watari, Iwanuma
The actual terminus is Iwanuma in Miyagi (at the Fujinami intersection) 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.
The following sections of Route 6 overlap with other routes:
One side of National Route 6 is known as the "nuclear dense zone". TÃ Âkaimura (the first nuclear power plant of Japan), Ã Âkuma (center of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster) and Naraha (location of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant) 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 (the Iwaki side) and Haranomachi (the SÃ Âma side). The ban was lifted in September 2014 after the road decontamination, and vehicles (with exception of motorcycles and bicycles) are now allowed on the stretch of road.
National Route 6 is a part of the lengthened Tà Âkaidà  which connects the Kansai region (Kinai), or Nara and Kyoto in particular, and the Pacific coast of Tà Âhoku (called the Tagajà Â). During the Ritsuryà  period, roads from Kinai to the Tagajà  were divided into two: the Tà Âkaidà  eastern sea road (via Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Tokyo and Mito) and the Tà Âsandà  eastern mountain road (via Gifu, Shiojiri, Takasaki and Utsunomiya). During the foundation of Kamakura Kanagawa, Ritsiryà  Tà Âkaidà  was divided into two roads: the westward Tà Âkaidà  which connects southern Kantà  (Kamakura, Edo, Tokyo) and Kyoto, and the northward Tà Âkaidà  which connects southern Kantà  and Pacific coasts of Tà Âhoku. Since the foundation of Edo, Tà Âkaidà  was narrowed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the westward Tà Âkaidà  functioned as a seaside road to Kyoto and the northward Tà Âkaidà  functioned as one to the Pacific coasts of Tà Âhoku.
On 4 December 1952 the Ritsuryà  Tà Âkaidà  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.