Inner Circular Route

The Inner Circular Route (都心環状線, Toshin Kanjō-sen), signed as Route C1, is one of the routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the central part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The route is a complete loop around the central Tokyo wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, with a total length of 14.8 kilometers (9.2 mi). In addition to serving areas of central Tokyo, the Inner Circular Route also serves as the origin of the radial routes of the Shuto Expressway. A section of the expressway is built above the Shibuya River.

Shuto Expressway Inner Circular Route 首都高速都心環状線
The Inner Circular Route highlighted in red
Route information
Part of
Maintained by Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited
Length	14.8 km (9.2 mi)
Existed	1962–present
Major junctions
Beltway around Tokyo
	Ueno Route Mukojima Route Tokyo Expressway Yaesu Route Haneda Route Meguro Route Shibuya Route Shinjuku Route Ikebukuro Route
Highway system
National highways of Japan Expressways of Japan

History

The expressway was built between 1962 and 1967, partly in preparation for the 1964 Summer Olympics. In 2009, Tokyo private industries proposed funding a project to dismantle the elevated expressway and put them underground.[1] On 16 November 2017, the voice actress Hiromi Tsuru noted for her role as Bulma in the Japanese animated series Dragon Ball, died from aortic dissection while driving on the Inner Circular Route.[2]

List of interchanges

List of interchanges ordered clockwise beginning with Edobashi Junction. The entire expressway is in Tokyo.

Location	km[3]	mi	Exit	Name	Destinations	Notes
Chūō	0.0	0.0	—	Edobashi	Ueno Route north – Ueno   Mukojima Route north – Narita, Bayshore Route, Fukagawa Route, Tōhoku Expressway, Keiyō Road	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit; distance posts reset to zero, eastern terminus of AH1
	0.8	0.50	11	Takarachō	Yaesu-dōri	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	1.0	0.62	—	Kyōbashi	Spur route to Tokyo Expressway	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	1.6	0.99	12	Kyōbashi	Kajibashi-dōri – Kyōbashi, Eitaibashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	1.7– 1.9	1.1– 1.2	13/14	Shintomichō	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 50 (Shin-Ōhashi-dōri) – Shin-Ōhashi, Tsukuda, Shiodome	Exit only
	2.0– 2.5	1.2– 1.6	15/16	Ginza	Ginchū-dōri
	3.2	2.0	18	Shiodome	Kaigan-dōri – Shinbashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	3.4	2.1	—	Shiodome	Yaesu Route north – Kita-Ikebukuro, Shin-Kyōbashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
Minato	4.3	2.7	—	Hamazakibashi	Haneda Route south – Haneda, Bayshore Route, Yokohane Route, Daiba Route, Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, Higashi-Kantō Expressway
	5.2– 5.7	3.2– 3.5	19/20	Shiba-kōen	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 319 – to National Route 1, Hibiya, Roppongi, Kanasugi Bridge, Shinagawa
	6.6	4.1	—	Ichinohashi	Meguro Route south – Meguro, Togoshi
	7.2	4.5	21	Iikura	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 415 (Azabu-dōri) – Roppongi
	7.8	4.8	—	Tanimachi	Shibuya Route west – to Tōmei Expressway, Shibuya	Clockwise beginning of AH1 concurrency
Chiyoda	8.8– 9.2	5.5– 5.7	23/24	Kasumigaseki	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 415 (Roppongi-dōri) – Hibiya, Hanzōmon, Nagatachō
	10.2	6.3	—	Miyakezaka	Shinjuku Route west – to Chūō Expressway, Shinjuku
	11.6	7.2	25	Daikanchō	Uchibori-dōri – Kitanomaru Park	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
	12.0	7.5	26	Kitanomaru	Uchibori-dōri – Hitotsubashi	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	12.3	7.6	—	Takebashi	Ikebukuro Route north – Ōmiya, Kita-Ikebukuro
	12.9– 13.2	8.0– 8.2	28/29	Kandabashi	Hibiya-dōri – Ōtemachi
	13.3	8.3	—	Kandabashi	Yaesu Route south – Marunouchi, Shinbashi	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
Chūō	14.0	8.7	30	Gofukubashi	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 405 (Sotobori-dōri) – Tokyo Station	Clockwise entrance, counterclockwise exit
	14.2	8.8	31	Edobashi	Tokyo Metropolitan Route 316 (Shōwa-dōri)	Clockwise exit, counterclockwise entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Keisuke Okada (17 March 2012). "Push to replace Tokyo's aging expressways with tunnel routes revived". The Japan Times. p. 3. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
2. "アンパンマンのドキンちゃん　声優の鶴ひろみさん死亡　首都高速で意識不明の状態で発見" [Anpanman's Dokin-chan voice actor Tsuru Hiromi found dead on the Inner Circular Expressway] (in Japanese). 17 November 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
3. Google (23 July 2020). "Inner Circular Route" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 23 July 2020.