Japan National Route 12
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 国道12号 | ||||
 Japan National Route 12 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 135.7 km[1] (84.3 mi) | |||
| Existed | 4 December 1952–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   National Route 36 / National Route 230 in Chūō-ku, Sapporo | |||
| North end |   National Route 39 / National Route 40 in Asahikawa | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Japan | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
National Route 12 (国道12号, Kokudō Jūni-gō) is a Japanese national highway connecting the two largest cities of Hokkaido, Sapporo and Asahikawa. The 135.7-kilometer-long (84.3 mi) highway begins at an intersection with National Routes 36 and 230 in Sapporo. It travels northeast across the western side of Hokkaido to Asahikawa where it ends at an intersection with National Routes 39 and 40.
Route description
[edit]National Route 12 is a 135.7-kilometer-long (84.3 mi) highway in western Hokkaido that runs north from Sapporo to Asahikawa. Its southern terminus lies at an intersection in Chūō-ku, Sapporo where it meets National Routes 36 and 230. Along the way from Sapporo to Asahikawa, it passes through the cities of Ebetsu, Iwamizawa, Takikawa, and Fukagawa.[2] The highway is closely paralleled by the tolled Dō-Ō Expressway and it functions as free alternative route to the expressway between Sapporo and Asahikawa.[3] A notable section of the highway between the cities of Bibai and Takikawa is known for being the longest straight section of roadway in Japan.[4] Marked as being 29.2 kilometers (18.1 mi) long, there is actually a slight curve in Takikawa, bringing the actual length of the straight section of the road down to 27.7 kilometers (17.2 mi).[4] Its northern terminus in Asahikawa is the intersection where it meets National Routes 39 and 40.[5]
History
[edit]
National Route 12 was preceded by the Kamikawa Road, an 88-kilometer-long (55 mi), Meiji period road built to link the current cities of Mikasa and Asahikawa. Ordered by Genrōin secretary Kaneko Kentarō, construction on the road began in April 1886. It was completed in 90 days by making use of prison labor from the prisoners that were to be incarcerated at Abashiri Prison in northeastern Hokkaido. The prison laborers were mainly political dissidents that Kaneko viewed as morally deficient.[6] Construction of the Kamikawa Road and the others leading from the more-developed southern part of Hokkaido to the prison were of strategic importance to Japan, which viewed Hokkaido as being vulnerable to an invasion from their neighbor, the Russian Empire.[7] On 4 December 1952 the highway was designated by the Cabinet of Japan as Primary National Highway 12 between Sapporo and Asahikawa.[8] On 1 April 1965 it was reclassified as General National Highway 12 without any changes being made to its routing.[9]
Major junctions
[edit]The route lies entirely within Hokkaido.
| Location | km[10] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sapporo | 0.0 | 0.0 | National Route 36 south – Chitose National Route 230 west – Otaru, Teine Hokkaido Route 18 – Sapporo Station | Southern terminus; highway continues west as National Route 230 | |||
| 0.4 | 0.25 |  National Route 5 south (Sōseikawa-dōri) – Ishikari | |||||
| 1.2 | 0.75 | Hokkaido Route 3 east – Ichijo-ohashi Bridge | |||||
| 2.3 | 1.4 |  National Route 275 north – Tsukigata, Tōbetsu | |||||
| 4.8 | 3.0 |    Hokkaido Route 89 (Kanjō-dōri) – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Sasson Expressway, National Route 36, Misono, Kitago | |||||
| 5.2 | 3.2 | Hokkaido Route 368 north – Shiroishi Station | |||||
| 7.1 | 4.4 | Hokkaido Route 453 west – to National Route 36, Tsukisamu | |||||
| 9.3 | 5.8 |  National Route 274 south | Exit ramp from National Route 274 south to National Route 12 only | ||||
| 10.2 | 6.3 |  Hokkaido Route 3 – to Dō-Ō Expressway, National Route 274, Ryutsu Center, Kitahiroshima | |||||
| 11.4 | 7.1 | Hokkaido Route 1138 south (Atsubetsu-chūō-dōri) – to National Route 36, Satozuka | |||||
| Ebetsu | 19.0 | 11.8 | Hokkaido Route 1005 south – Kitahiroshima | ||||
| 19.3 | 12.0 | Hokkaido Route 46 north – Kakuyama Hokkaido Route 370 east – Nopporo Station | Southern end of Hokkaido Route 46 concurrency | ||||
| 21.2 | 13.2 | Hokkaido Route 46 south – Nanporo, Kitahiroshima Hokkaido Route 128 west – to Dō-Ō Expressway, National Route 275, Tōbetsu | Northern end of Hokkaido Route 46 concurrency | ||||
| 22.7 | 14.1 | Hokkaido Route 1056 west – to National Route 275, Tōbetsu | Southern end of Hokkaido Route 1056 concurrency | ||||
| 25.7 | 16.0 | Hokkaido Route 1056 west – Naganuma, Nanporo, Akebono | Northern end of Hokkaido Route 1056 concurrency | ||||
| 27.0 | 16.8 |  National Route 337 (Dō-ōken Renraku Road) – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Otaru, Tōbetsu, Shinshinotsu, Naganuma, Nanporo | Interchange | ||||
| Iwamizawa | 34.9 | 21.7 | Hokkaido Route 340 south – Kuriyama, Nanporo Hokkaido Route 1121 north – Shinshinotsu, Kitamura | ||||
| 38.3 | 23.8 | Hokkaido Route 728 south – Kurisawa | |||||
| 39.6 | 24.6 | Hokkaido Route 81 north – Tōbetsu, Shinshinotsu, Kitamura | |||||
| 40.5 | 25.2 | Hokkaido Route 6 north – Iwamizawa Station | |||||
| 41.0 | 25.5 | Hokkaido Route 1139 south | |||||
| 43.0 | 26.7 |  National Route 234 south – Tomakomai, KuriyamaHokkaido Route 687 north – Kitamura, Tsukigawa, Shinshinotsu | |||||
| 45.6 | 28.3 | Hokkaido Route 960 east | |||||
| 45.8 | 28.5 | Hokkaido Route 917 east – Iwamizawa Road Office | |||||
| Mikasa | 50.2 | 31.2 | Hokkaido Route 30 south – Kuriyama, Mikasa | ||||
| Bibai | 52.1 | 32.4 | Hokkaido Route 275 west – Tsukigata, Miyajima Swamp, Kitamura | ||||
| 52.4 | 32.6 | Hokkaido Route 1140 east – Mikasa | |||||
| 60.8 | 37.8 | Hokkaido Route 33 west – to National Route 275, Kamibibai, Tsukigata, Miyajima Swamp | |||||
| 61.7 | 38.3 | Hokkaido Route 135 east – Tomei Park | |||||
| 65.6 | 40.8 | Hokkaido Route 979 west – to National Route 275, Urausu | |||||
| Naie | 71.2 | 44.2 | Hokkaido Route 139 west – Urausu | ||||
| 71.5 | 44.4 | Hokkaido Route 529 east – Naie Station | Southern end of Hokkaido Route 529 concurrency | ||||
| 71.8 | 44.6 | Hokkaido Route 529 east | Northern end of Hokkaido Route 529 concurrency | ||||
| 74.6 | 46.4 | Hokkaido Route 114 north – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Kamisunagawa | |||||
| Sunagawa | 78.6 | 48.8 | Hokkaido Route 115 east – Utashinai, Kamisunagawa | ||||
| 80.3 | 49.9 | Hokkaido Route 283 west – to National Route 275, Shintotsukawa Hokkaido Route 627 east – Utashinai | |||||
| 82.5 | 51.3 | Hokkaido Route 1027 east – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Utashinai | |||||
| 84.7 | 52.6 |  National Route 12 north (Takikawa Bypass) – Asahikawa, Fukagawa | |||||
| Takikawa | 86.0 | 53.4 |  National Route 451 north (Takishin Bypass) – Shintotsukawa | ||||
| 86.6 | 53.8 | Hokkaido Route 203 west – Takikawa Station | |||||
| 87.0 | 54.1 |  National Route 38 east (Higashi-Ōdōri) – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Furano National Route 451 north – Hamamasu, Shintotsukawa | |||||
| 90.6 | 56.3 | National Route 12 south (Takikawa Bypass) – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Sapporo, Sunagawa | |||||
| 94.9 | 59.0 |  Hokkaido Route 564 east – to National Route 38, Akabira | |||||
| 95.1 | 59.1 | Hokkaido Route 323 west – Ebeotsu Station | |||||
| 96.3 | 59.8 | Hokkaido Route 279 west – to National Route 275, Uryū | |||||
| Fukagawa | 101.4 | 63.0 |  Hokkaido Route 94 north – to Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway, Moseushi | ||||
| 108.9 | 67.7 |  National Route 233 west – to Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway, Fukagawa Station, Rumoi Hokkaido Route 79 east – to Dō-Ō Expressway | Southern end of National Route 233 concurrency | ||||
| 114.5 | 71.1 | Hokkaido Route 916 north – Osamunai Station | |||||
| Asahikawa | 118.2 | 73.4 | Hokkaido Route 4 south – Ashibetsu | ||||
| 119.4 | 74.2 | Hokkaido Route 57 west – Rumoi, Fukagawa | |||||
| 130.9 | 81.3 | National Route 12 north (Asahikawa Shindō) – to Dō-Ō Expressway, Kitami, Shibetsu | Northbound exit, southbound entrance | ||||
| 131.2 | 81.5 | Hokkaido Route 937 south – Kamiubun, Daibahigashi | |||||
| 133.5 | 83.0 |  Hokkaido Route 90 – Numata, Tadoshi, Furano, Asahikawa Airport | |||||
| 135.2 | 84.0 |  National Route 237 south (Takishin Bypass) – Furano, Biei, Asahikawa Airport | |||||
| 135.7 | 84.3 | National Route 39 east (Yonjō-dōri) – Kitami, Kamikawa National Route 40 north (Shōwa-dōri) – Nayoro, Shibetsu | Northern terminus; end of National Route 233 concurrency; highway continues east as National Route 39 | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
Auxiliary routes
[edit]Takikawa Bypass
[edit]
The Takikawa Bypass is a 6.3-kilometer-long (3.9 mi) auxiliary route of National Route 12 that travels to the east and north of the central district of Takikawa.[11] From its southern terminus with its parent route, it heads north and crosses over the Sorachi River. It has a junction with National Route 38. After this junction the Takikawa Bypass travels northeast, paralleling the main line of National Route 12 until it reaches Hokkaido Route 776. From there it heads northwest towards its northern terminus at a junction with National Route 12.[12][13]
Asahikawa Shindō
[edit]The Asahikawa Shindō is a 14.1-kilometer-long (8.8 mi) auxiliary route of National Route 12 that travels to the west and north of the central district of Asahikawa.[5] From its southern terminus with its parent route, it heads north and crosses over the Ishikari River. After that it curves to the northeast and has a junction with the Dō-Ō Expressway. North of central Asahikawa the highway curves to the southeast. It meets National Route 40 just before crossing over the Ishikari River once more. The highway then meets its northern terminus at an intersection with National Route 39.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "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 19 February 2020.
- ^ "一般国道１２号 江別道路" [National Route 12 Ebetsu Road] (PDF) (in Japanese). 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "E5 Do-O Expressway Ebetsu East IC-Iwamizawa IC (both directions) Emergency Night Closure Notice". East Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd. Hokkaido Regional Head Office. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b 吉田弥生 (16 August 2016). "29.2kmを直線ドライブ！日本一の直線道路を旅する" [29.2 km straight drive! Travel on Japan's longest straight road] (in Japanese). J-TRIP Co, Ltd. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ a b "一般国道１２号 旭川新道" [National Route 12 Asahikawa Shindō] (PDF) (in Japanese). 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "開拓の基盤を作った囚人道路" [Foundations laid by prisoner-built road]. Tsukigata History (in Japanese). 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Kris Kosaka (24 March 2013). "Abashiri astounds with its ice and convict connections". The Japan Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ 一級国道の路線を指定する政令 (昭和二十七年) [Cabinet Order Designating Routes of Primary National Highways (Showa 27)] (in Japanese). 1952. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ 一般国道の路線を指定する政令 [Cabinet Order Designating General National Routes] (in Japanese). Cabinet of Japan. 1965. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Wikisource.
- ^ "National Route 12" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Route to The Daiso Takikawa Bypass". japantravel.navitime.com. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "方針付図" [Policy attached diagram] (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Takikawa Bypass" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ "Asahikawa Shindō" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Category:Route 12 (Japan) at Wikimedia Commons
