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National highways are the general term for roads designated by government ordinance by the Japanese government. Because they form part of the nationwide trunk road network, they are generally wide and designed to allow vehicles to travel at high speeds, giving the impression of being roads with a lot of vehicle traffic. However, while this image of national highways is a common one, there are many exceptions. In particular, National Route 339, which runs through Aomori Prefecture, has a section that is made up of stairs that make it impossible for vehicles to pass through .
What is National Route 339?
National Route 339 starts in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, and heads north across the Tsugaru Plain, passing through Goshogawara City before reaching Minmaya Honmachi in Sotogahama Town, Higashitsugaru District, at the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula
It was designated as a national highway in 1974, exactly 50 years ago at the time of publication of this article. National Route 339 runs north to south across the Tsugaru Peninsula, and in the north it runs along the coast of the Sea of Japan on the Tsugaru Peninsula. After passing the famous Cape Tappi, it heads southeast to Minamaya Honmachi.
At the end of the line at the intersection in Minamaya Honmachi, the road connects with National Route 280, and if you travel along Routes 339 and 280, you will reach Aomori City. In other words, the national routes are set up in a way that takes you around the Tsugaru Peninsula in an inverted U-shape.
As an aside, there were plans to build a railway around the Tsugaru Peninsula, but neither the railway on the west side of the peninsula (Tsugaru Railway Line) nor the railway on the east side (JR Tsugaru Line) ever reached Cape Tappi.
National Route 339 is a fairly standard national highway from Hirosaki City to Sotogahama Town, but at an intersection in Sotogahama Town, a sign suddenly appears telling you to turn off National Route 339 if you are heading towards Aomori or Imabetsu
If you continue straight on National Route 339, ignoring the signs, the center line of the road will gradually become thinner and the road will narrow. Eventually, the road will no longer be National Route 339.
That said, National Route 339 does not end here. It continues, bending to the right. However, just beyond this bend is a staircase rises 70 meters in elevation. As you know, stairs are basically only traversable on foot. Naturally, vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, and cars cannot traverse this staircase.
Incidentally, there are actually quite a few " highways that vehicles cannot use " across the country. For example, National Route 58 is a national highway that connects Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture. Since the two cities are not connected by land, vehicles cannot pass through as they are, and the only way to cross is by ferry or other means. National highways like this are called marine highways
Furthermore, even among national roads on land, there are some that are not passable by vehicles because they are less than 1.5m wide. These national roads are called dotted line national roads. They are also known as "bad roads."
the only national highway in Japan where vehicles cannot pass because it is a staircase . However, there is a road to the east (nearby) of the Staircase National Highway that can bypass the Staircase National Highway, so it is possible to travel between Hirosaki and Minamaya by car without any problems.
Why were the stairs designated as a national highway?
It is not clear why the stairs were designated a national highway, but when we refer to information released by Aomori Prefecture and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the following history can be seen. Before it was designated as a national highway, the section that is now the stairs was a prefectural road with a narrow and steep slope. Halfway up the slope was Tappi Junior High School, and at the top of the slope was Tappi Elementary School. It is said that stairs had been installed from the bottom of the slope to the junior high school for students going to the junior high school for a long time.
In 1974, this slope was designated as part of National Route 339. The accepted theory is that the reason it was designated as a national route despite the fact that it was a road that vehicles could not pass through was because it was designated as a national route on a temporary basis and there were plans to improve it so that vehicles could pass through .
Meanwhile, around 1985, after the road was designated a national highway, stairs were constructed on the upper side of the slope to make commuting to Tappi Elementary School easier
As already mentioned, the Stairway National Highway is 388.2m long with a difference in elevation of 70m, making it a steep slope that is not easy for vehicles to pass through. I have actually traveled on it before, and it is easy to imagine how difficult it must have been to reconstruct such a narrow and steep road into a road. Furthermore, a road has been constructed that allows vehicles to bypass the Stairway National Highway, so there is no longer any need to rush to reconstruct the Stairway National Highway to make it passable.
Additionally, Tappi Junior High School closed in 1984, and the elementary school in 1989. The decline in the number of pupils and students is said to be due to the decrease in the number of households involved in the construction of the Seikan Tunnel, which connects Aomori Prefecture and Hokkaido, and lived near the Stairway National Highway, around the time of its opening in 1988.
For the reasons mentioned above, the importance of the National Stairway as a residential road has declined, and the road has continued to exist as a stairway
Now, it would have been natural to redesignate the newly constructed detour route as National Route 339. However, the nation's only staircase national highway had already been featured in the media and become famous. Therefore, it was decided that leaving it as a staircase national highway would be a better tourist resource, and measures to redesignate the detour route as a national highway were not taken. Between 1993 and 1996, the stairs were reconstructed and remain as they are today. And as intended, the staircase national highway has become one of the leading tourist spots in Sotogahama Town.
How do I get to Stairway National Highway?
*Information as of November 2024
As mentioned above, the Stairs National Highway is part of National Highway 339, so you can easily get there by driving along National Highway 339. However, there are few parking spaces on the lower side of the stairs (north/Minamiya side), so you will generally have to park on the upper side (south/Hirosaki side).
You can also easily access the area near the Stairway National Highway by using the shared taxi service "Wantaku." For more information, please check the Wantaku website
By the way, near the upper entrance of the Stairway National Highway, there is a monument to theTsugaru Kaikyo Fuyugeshiki" (Winter Scenery on the monument, the second verse of the song, which sings about Cape Tappi, plays.
Inquiry number 0174-31-1228 (Sotogahama Town Industry and Tourism Division)
Notes: Closed during winter
Google Map
summary
Although the origins of the Stairway National Highway are unclear, it has become an important tourist attraction for Sotogahama Town to this day. If you visit Cape Tappi, be sure to walk along the Stairway National Highway. Especially in mid-August, you can enjoy the view of hydrangeas on both sides of the road as you walk.
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