Japan National Route 45

National Route 45 (国道45号) is a national highway of Japan connecting Aoba-ku, Sendai and Aomori, Aomori. Alongside Japan National Route 6, it is a main route along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan. It is paralleled closely by the incomplete Sanriku Expressway between Sendai and Hachinohe.

Route description
National Route 45 has a total length of 516.9 km. The northernmost 76.1 km of the highway between its northern terminus in central Aomori and Japan National Route 102 in Towada, Aomori is a concurrency with Japan National Route 4 where Route 45 is not signed until it diverges from Route 4. From there it independently begins heading southeast towards the coastal cities of Hachinohe, Kuji, Miyako, Kamaishi, Kesennuma, and Ishinomaki on the way to its southern terminus in Sendai.

History
Route 45 was originally designated on 18 May 1953 as second-class routes 102 and 111 connecting Hirosaki to Hachinohe and Hachinohe to Sendai, respectively. On 1 April 1963, Route 102 was truncated to its current route with the section between Towada and Hachinohe incorporated into the newly formed first-class Route 45 along with the entirety of Route 111.

Many sections of the highway along the Sanriku Coast were inundated, destroyed, or swept away by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami event.

List of major junctions

 * Aomori Prefecture
 * in Aomori (northern end of concurrency with )
 * in Aomori
 * in Aomori
 * in Noheji
 * (Noheji Interchange) in Noheji
 * in Shichinohe
 * in Towada (southern end of concurrency with )
 * in Towada
 * JP Expressway E4A.svg Momoishi Road/Daini Michinoku Toll Road (Shimoda-Momoishi Interchange) in Oirase
 * in Oirase
 * JP Expressway E4A.svg Hachinohe Expressway (Hachinohe-kita Interchange) in Hachinohe
 * in Hachinohe
 * in Hachinohe
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Hachinohe-Kuji Expressway (Hachinohe-minami Interchange) in Hachinohe
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Hachinohe-Kuji Expressway (Hashikami Interchange) in Hashikami


 * Iwate Prefecture
 * /JP Expressway E45.svg Hachinohe-Kuji Expressway (Kuji-kita Interchange) in Kuji
 * /JP Expressway E45.svg Hachinohe-Kuji Expressway/Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Kuji Interchange) in Kuji
 * in Kuji
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Fudai-dai-16-Chiwari Interchange) in Fudai
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Fudai-dai-11-Chiwari Interchange) in Fudai
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Tanohata-Sugō Interchange) in Tanohata
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Tanohata Interchange) in Tanohata
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Tanohata-minami Interchange) in Tanohata
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Unosudangai Interchange) in Tanohata
 * in Iwaizumi
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku-kita Jūkan Road (Iwaizumi-minami Interchange) in Iwaizumi
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Tarō-Masakikaigan Interchange) in Miyako
 * in Miyako
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Miyako-minami Interchange) in Miyako
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Yamada-kita Interchange) in Yamada
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Yamada Interchange) in Yamada
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Yamada-minami Interchange) in Yamada
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kamaishi-kita Interchange) in Kamaishi
 * in Kamaishi
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kamaishi-Tōni Interchange) in Kamaishi
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kamaishi-minami Interchange) in Kamaishi
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Yoshihama Interchange) in Ōfunato
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Sanriku Interchange) in Ōfunato
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Ōfunato-kita Interchange) in Ōfunato
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Ōfunato Interchange) in Ōfunato
 * in Ōfunato
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Ōfunato-Goishikaigan Interchange) in Ōfunato
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kayooka Interchange) in Rikuzentakata
 * in Rikuzentakata
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Rikuzentakata-Taosabe Interchange) in Rikuzentakata


 * Miyagi Prefecture
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Karakuwa-Goharagi Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Karakuwa-minami Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kesennuma-chūō Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Ōya-Kaigan Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Motoyoshitsuya Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Koizumi-Kaigan Interchange) in Kesennuma
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Utatsu-kita Interchange) in Minamisanriku
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Utatsu Interchange) in Minamisanriku
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Minamisanriku-Kaigan Interchange) in Minamisanriku
 * in Minamisanriku
 * in Tome
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Kahoku Interchange) in Ishinomaki
 * in Ishinomaki
 * in Ishinomaki
 * in Ishinomaki
 * JP Expressway E45.svg Sanriku Expressway (Naruse-Okumatsushima Interchange) in Higashimatsushima
 * in Matsushima
 * JP Expressway E6.svg Sanriku Expressway/Sendai-Tōbu Road (Sendaikō-kita Interchange) in Miyagino-ku, Sendai
 * in Miyagino-ku, Sendai
 * in Aoba-ku, Sendai

Japan National Route 111
National Route 111 (国道111号) is a former second-class national highway of Japan that ran north to south from Sendai to Hachinohe. It existed from 1953 to 1963, when it was incorporated into the newly formed and longer first-class Route 45.