Congestion forecast on Expressway during the Obon period [Metropolitan area version]

We are predicting traffic congestion of up to 45km.
Please cooperate by using traffic congestion forecasts to distribute your travel time.

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  • Congestion forecast on Expressway during the Obon period [Metropolitan area version]

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July 17, 2020
East Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd., Kanto Regional Head Office
Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited, Tokyo Regional Head Office

East Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd. (NEXCO EAST) Kanto Regional Head Office and Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO CENTRAL) Tokyo Regional Head Office are announcing predicted traffic congestion of 10km or more on Expressway in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region and Shizuoka Prefecture during the Obon period [10 days from August 7th (Fri) to August 16th (Sun), 2026]. Widespread congestion is expected during this period, so please use the congestion forecast as a reference and cooperate by diversifying your travel.
Traffic congestion forecasts are based on past congestion data and recent traffic conditions. Actual congestion may differ due to accidents, other traffic disruptions, weather conditions, etc. Please check the latest traffic information before departure. Please note that holiday discounts will not apply on August 8th (Sat), 9th (Sun), 11th (Tue/Public Holiday), 15th (Sat), and 16th (Sun).

1. 1. Congestion forecast

♦ Overview of Traffic Congestion Forecasts

  • This year's Obon period is expected to see peak traffic congestion concentrated in the latter half of the year due to the arrangement of the days of the week (Mountain Day on August 11th is a holiday that falls between days of the week, the typical start of Obon on the 13th is a Thursday, and the 16th is a Sunday).
  • We predict that the peak of traffic congestion will be Out-bound lanes on August 12th (Wednesday) and 13th (Thursday), and on In-bound lanes on August 14th (Friday) and 15th (Saturday).
  • Due to bad weather during last year's Obon holiday, the number of traffic jams exceeding 10km this year is expected to increase by 35 compared to last year's figures.

(1) Prediction of traffic congestion over 10km (number of times per day)

Congestion prediction for 10 km or more (number of times per day) Out-bound image
Image of traffic jam prediction for 10 km or more (number of times per day) In-bound direction
Legend image image

(2) Prediction of especially long traffic jams (35 km or more)

For a more detailed list of traffic congestion forecasts, please see Appendix-1 [PDF: 366KB].

Image of prediction for particularly long traffic jams (35 km or more)
<The largest values in each direction are written in bold.>

(3) Comparison with last year (number of traffic jams)

The following is a comparison of the number of traffic jams in 2025 (last year). Please note that the 2025 figures include traffic jams caused by accidents and other factors.

■Comparison with 2025

The unit of the numerical value in the table is "times"

Traffic jam scale ①Forecast for 2020 *1 ② Results for 2025 *2 Difference (①-②)
Out-bound line In-bound line Total Out-bound line In-bound line Total Out-bound line In-bound line Total
Number of traffic jams over 10km 95 141 236 86 115 201 +9 +26 +35
Number of traffic jams of 30 km or more 6 6 12 6 9 15 ±0 ▲3 ▲3
  1. The forecast for 2026 is based on data collected over a 10-day period from August 7th (Friday) to August 16th (Sunday), 2026.
  2. The data for 2025 covers the 10-day period from August 8th (Friday) to August 17th (Sunday), 2025.

2. Useful driving information

We provide a variety of information to help you with your driving, including real-time road traffic information and congestion forecasts. For more details, please see Attachment-2 [PDF: 267KB].

3. To our customers

This document outlines important requests for our customers to follow and our customer service initiatives (measures to reduce congestion). For more details, please see Attachment-3 [PDF: 245KB].

4. Holiday discounts do not apply during the Obon period.

To avoid increased traffic congestion, holiday discounts will not be applied during this period. Please see below for details.

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Related Sites and Content

Driver's site (DraPla)

If you are looking for information on fares, routes, service areas and parking areas, please click here.

Drive Traffic (DraTra)

If you are looking for real-time traffic congestion and restriction information, click here.

NEXCO EAST (Road Disaster Prevention Information) Official X

Click here if you are looking for road information such as road closures during disasters.