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National highways are the general term for roads designated by Japanese government by government ordinance.
Since these roads form part of the nationwide trunk road network, they are generally wide and structured to allow vehicles to speed up easily, so you may have the impression that they are roads that are frequented by many vehicles.
However, although this image of national highways is a common one, there are many national highways that can be considered exceptions.
In particular, National Route 339, which runs through Aomori Prefecture, has a section of stairs that cannot be accessed by vehicles .
What is National Route 339?
National Route 339 is a road that starts in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, heads north through the Tsugaru Plain, passes through Goshogawara City, and ends at Minmaya Honmachi in Sotogahama Town, Higashi Tsugaru District, at the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula.
It was designated as a national highway in 1974, exactly 50 years ago from the time this article was published.
National Route 339 traverses the Tsugaru Peninsula from north to south, and in the north, the road runs along the coast of the Sea of Japan of the Tsugaru Peninsula.
After passing through the famous Ryuhizaki, head southeast to Sanmaya Honmachi.
At the final stop, Mimaya Honmachi, the road connects with National Route 280, and if you drive through Routes 339 and 280, you will reach Aomori City.
In other words, the national highway has been designed to take a route that goes around the Tsugaru Peninsula in an inverted U shape.
As an aside, there was once a plan to construct a railway along a route that would go around the Tsugaru Peninsula.
However, neither the railways on the west side of the peninsula (Tsugaru Railway Line) nor the railways on the east side (JR Tsugaru Line) have reached Ryubisaki to this day.
stairs national highway
National Route 339 is a very common national highway that runs from Hirosaki City to Sotogahama Town, but at an intersection in Sotogahama Town, you suddenly notice that if you are heading towards Aomori/Imabetsu, you should deviate from National Route 339. A sign will appear.
If you continue straight on National Route 339, ignoring the signs, the center line of the road will eventually become thinner and the width will become narrower.
And in the end, the road will no longer be National Route 339.
However, National Route 339 does not end at this location.
It curves to the right and continues.
However, just beyond this curved road is
a staircase As you know, stairs are basically something that can only be accessed on foot.
Vehicles such as bicycles, two-wheeled vehicles, and cars are naturally not allowed to pass on this staircase.
By the way, there are actually quite a few national highways across the country that
are closed to vehicles For example, National Route 58 is a national highway that connects Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture and Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture.
Since there is no land connection between the two cities, vehicles cannot pass directly between the two cities, so the only way to cross is by ferry.
Such national highways are called maritime national highways
Additionally, even if it is a national highway on land, there are some national highways that cannot be used by vehicles because their width is less than 1.5m.
These national highways are called dotted national highways.
It is also known by the common name ``Akudo''.
the only national highway in Japan that is not accessible to vehicles because it has stairs .
Furthermore, there is a road on the east side (front side) of the Stairs National Highway that allows you to go around the Stairs National Highway, so
it is possible to go back and forth between Hirosaki and Sanmaya by car without any problems.
Why were stairs designated as national highways?
The reason why the stairs were designated as a national highway is not clear, but if you look at the information announced by Aomori Prefecture, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, etc., you can see the following reasons.
Before it was designated as a national highway, the part that is now a stairway was a prefectural road with a narrow and steep slope.
There was Tatsuhi Junior High School halfway up the slope, and Tatsuhi Elementary School at the top of the slope.
It is said that stairs were built from the bottom of the slope to the junior high school for students who went to the junior high school since ancient times.
In 1974, this slope was designated as part of National Route 339.
The accepted theory is that the reason why it was designated as a national highway even though it was not traversable by vehicles was because there was a plan to temporarily designate it as a national highway and improve it so that it would be passable by vehicles
On the other hand, around 1985 after it was designated as a national highway, stairs were built on the top of the slope to make commuting to Tatsuhi Elementary School easier.
As mentioned above, the National Stairway is a slope that is not gentle enough for vehicles to pass through, with a total length of 388.2m and a height difference of 70m.
I have actually driven through this road before, and I can easily imagine how difficult it was to rebuild the narrow and steep road into a road.
Furthermore, roads have been developed that allow vehicles to pass around the Stairs National Highway, and there is no longer a need to rush to make the Stairs National Highway passable for vehicles.
Additionally, Tatsuhi Junior High School was closed in 1984, and the elementary school was closed in 1989.
The reason behind the decrease in the number of children and students is that the number of households involved in tunnel construction who lived around the Staircase National Highway decreased around the time when the Seikan Tunnel connecting Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaido opened in 1988. has been.
For the reasons mentioned above, the importance of the Stairs National Highway as a community road declined, and this road continued to exist as a staircase.
Now, originally, it would be appropriate to re-designate the newly constructed detour as National Route 339.
However, the country's only staircase national highway had already become famous and featured in the media.
If that was the case, it would have been decided that it would be better to leave the national staircase as a national highway as a tourist attraction, and no action was taken to re-designate the detour as a national highway.
From 1993 to 1996, the stairs were renovated and are still in use today.
As expected, the national highway has become one of Sotogahama's most popular tourist spots.
How to go to the national highway by stairs?
*Information as of November 2024.
As I have already introduced, Stairs National Highway is part of National Route 339, so you can easily reach the site by driving along National Route 339.
However, there are few parking spaces at the bottom of the stairs (north/Sanmaya side), so basically you will have to park at the top (south/Hirosaki side).
You can also easily access the vicinity of Stairs National Highway by using the shared taxi ``wantaku''. Please check the WanTaku website for details.
there is
Tsugaru Strait Winter View Song Monument near the entrance on the upper side of the National Stairway Tsugaru Kaikyo Winter Scene sung by Sayuri Ishikawa , the second verse about Ryuhizaki will be played.
Other tourist attractions nearby include the Tatsuhizaki Lighthouse and Tatsuhizaki Onsen Hotel Tatsuhi.
Please note that the National Stairway is closed during the winter, so please visit at other times of the year.
Information
- Name Stairs National Route 339
- Location: Mimaya Ryuhama, Sotogahama-cho, Higashitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture
- Inquiry number 0174-31-1228 (Sotogahama Town Industry and Tourism Division)
- Notes: Closed during winter
Google Map
summary
Although the origins of the Stairs National Highway are not clear, it has become an important tourist resource for Sotogahama Town to this day.
When you visit Tatsubisaki, be sure to take a walk along the national staircase.
Especially around mid-August, you can walk while admiring the hydrangeas on both sides of the road.
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