Japan Tohoku Expressway Pass – Tohoku Expressway Pass

Post date: 2025-08-05 | Categories: Japan Travel

Tohoku Expressway Pass is a highway pass launched in November 2015 by East Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO East Japan), targeting foreign tourists traveling in Japan by rental car. It covers expressways in six prefectures of the Tohoku region: Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Fukushima.

Agoda Booking Deals!

【Agoda 10% Discount Code (incl. taxes)】(Valid worldwide, with discounts applied to taxes and service fees.)

【Bonus Guide: How to Use Agoda Promo Codes? | How to Avoid Agoda’s 5% Service Fee?】

Target Audience and Coverage

The Tohoku Expressway Pass is exclusively sold to foreign tourists renting cars in Japan and allows unlimited use of most expressways managed by NEXCO East Japan in the Tohoku region. The coverage includes expressways in the six prefectures mentioned above. For the full coverage map, please refer to the image below.

Like other expressway passes, the Tohoku Expressway Pass requires an ETC card as a carrier. Rental car companies typically charge a 330 yen fee for the card. Besides being usable in the covered areas, the pass can also be used like a regular ETC card on expressways outside the coverage. All tolls for non-covered sections will be recorded on the ETC card and settled with the rental company upon returning the car.

Additional toll fees apply in the following scenarios:
– Entering the expressway within the covered area but exiting outside it;
– Entering the expressway outside the covered area but exiting within it;
– Entering and exiting the expressway outside the covered area.

The boundaries of the Tohoku Expressway Pass coverage are straightforward, involving only three expressway interchanges (ICs):
1. Tohoku Expressway‘s Shirakawa IC in Fukushima Prefecture near the Tochigi Prefecture border;
2. Joban Expressway‘s Iwaki-Nakoso IC in Fukushima Prefecture near the Ibaraki Prefecture border;
3. Banetsu Expressway‘s Nishi-Aizu IC in Fukushima Prefecture near the Niigata Prefecture border.
Tolls for sections outside the coverage, between these three boundary ICs and other non-covered ICs, must be paid separately.

Tohoku Expressway Pass Pricing

NEXCO East Japan implemented two changes to the Tohoku Expressway Pass on October 1, 2024:
1. A revised pricing model with increased prices;
2. Eligibility for light vehicles (previously limited to standard vehicles over 660cc).

The new pricing model adopts a fixed daily rate, averaging 2,130 yen per day. Unlike the old model, where the daily cost decreased with longer durations, the new model maintains a consistent daily rate. Additionally, the minimum purchase duration is now 4 days, and the maximum is 8 days.

Duration	Pre-Oct 1, 2024 Price (Standard Vehicle)	Post-Oct 1 Price (Standard Vehicle)	Post-Oct 1 Price (Light Vehicle)
2 Day	4,100 yen	Not available	Not available
3 Day	5,600 yen	Not available	Not available
4 Day	7,100 yen	8,500 yen	6,800 yen
5 Day	7,600 yen	10,600 yen	8,500 yen
6 Day	8,100 yen	12,800 yen	10,200 yen
7 Day	8,700 yen	14,900 yen	11,900 yen
8 Day	9,200 yen	17,000 yen	13,600 yen

To determine if the pass is cost-effective for your trip, calculate the toll fees for your planned routes within the covered area using the NEXCO East Japan toll calculator and compare them with the pass price.

For a quick estimate, Japanese expressway tolls average around 25 yen per kilometer, or 28 yen including 10% consumption tax. Under the new pricing, the pass is worthwhile only if your daily travel distance within the covered area exceeds 85 km on average.

For example, the expressway distance from Sendai to Aomori is approximately 360 km. A round trip between these cities would exceed 750 km, making even an 8-day pass cost-effective. However, if your route follows toll-free coastal highways instead of the Tohoku Expressway, the pass may not be necessary.

Purchase Locations

The Tohoku Expressway Pass is sold only at designated branches of rental car companies partnered with NEXCO East Japan. As of October 2024, there are six participating companies:
Nippon Rent a Car,
Toyota Rent a Car,
Budget Rent a Car,
Orix Rent a Car,
Times Car Rental, and
Nissan Rent a Car.

These companies have a combined total of 130 branches in the six Tohoku prefectures. For a detailed list, refer to the official website.

Note that the pass is not available for purchase in Tokyo. It is only sold at rental branches within the Tohoku region.

1. Nippon Rent a Car Locations

(1) Aomori Prefecture
- Shin-Aomori Station Front
- Aomori Station Front
- Aomori Airport
- Hachinohe Station East Exit
(2) Akita Prefecture
- Akita Station East Exit
- Akita Airport Front
(2) Iwate Prefecture
- Morioka Station Front
- Shin-Hanamaki Station East Exit
(3) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Station Front Terminal
- Sendai Airport
(4) Yamagata Prefecture
- Yamagata Station East Exit
(5) Fukushima Prefecture
- Koriyama Station West Exit
- Fukushima Soneda

2. Toyota Rent a Car Locations

(1) Aomori Prefecture
- Aomori Airport
- Misawa Airport
- Shin-Aomori Station West Exit
- Hachinohe Station East Exit
- Shichinohe-Towada Station North Exit
- Aomori Yasukata
- Hirosaki Station Joto Exit
- Hachinohe Kashiwazaki
- Hachinohe Shiriuchi
- Hirosaki Kanda
- Aomori Central
- Noheji Station Front
- Towada
- Aomori Chikudo
- Goshogawara
- Kuroishi
- Aomori Shinden
- Hachinohe Shirogane
(2) Iwate Prefecture
- Ninohe Station Shinkansen Exit
- Morioka Station South Exit
- Shin-Hanamaki Station West Exit
- Kitakami Station Shinkansen East Exit
- Ichinohe Station West Exit
- Hanamaki Airport
(3) Akita Prefecture
- Akita Station
- Akita Airport
- Omagari
- Kakunodate
- Tazawako
(4) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Airport
- Sendai Station East Exit
- Sendai Station West Exit
- Sendai Shinkansen Exit
- Honcho
- Takasago
- Furukawa Station Front
- Kurikoma Highland Station Front
- Kesennuma
- Ishinomaki
- Izumi-Chuo Station Front
- Transportation Bureau Front
- Wholesale Town
- Kano 286
- Ishinomaki Station Front
- Shiroishi-Zao Shinkansen Station
- Shiogama
- Central
- Atagobashi Station Front
(5) Yamagata Prefecture
- Yamagata Station
- Yamagata Airport
- Shonai Airport
(6) Fukushima Prefecture
- Fukushima Airport
- Fukushima Station
- Fukushima Station Shinkansen Exit
- Koriyama Station Shinkansen Exit
- Koriyama Station East Exit
- Koriyama
- Shin-Shirakawa Station Shinkansen Exit
- Aizu
- Aizu-Wakamatsu Station
- Sukagawa
- Kitakata
- Iwaki Station Front
- Izumi Station Front

3. Budget Rent a Car Locations

(1) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Airport

4. Orix Rent a Car Locations

(1) Aomori Prefecture
- Aomori Station
- Aomori Airport
- Hachinohe Station
- Misawa Airport
- Shin-Aomori Station
- Shin-Aomori Station Front Rose
- Hirosaki Station Front
- Oma Sailing Port
(2) Iwate Prefecture
- Morioka Station
- Hanamaki Airport
- Ichinohe Station Front
- Kitakami Station Front
(3) Akita Prefecture
- Akita Airport
- Akita Station West Exit
- Odate-Noshiro Airport
(4) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Station
- Sendai Station East Exit
- Sendai Airport
- Sendai Oshimachi
- Izumi-Chuo Station West Exit
- Furukawa Station East Exit
- Sendai Kokubuncho
(5) Fukushima Prefecture
- Fukushima Station West Exit
- Koriyama Station West Exit
- Iwaki Shimocho
- Shin-Shirakawa Station Front
- Fukushima Airport
- Fukushima Station East Exit
- Aizu-Wakamatsu Station Front
- Koriyama Station East Exit
- Iwaki Jurokuchome
(6) Yamagata Prefecture
- Shonai Airport
- Yamagata Airport
- Yamagata Station West Exit
- Shinjo Station Front Bus Terminal
- Tsuruoka Station Front Bus Terminal

5. Times Car Rental Locations

(1) Iwate Prefecture
- Morioka Station Front
- Hanamaki Airport (HNA)
(2) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Station East Exit
- Sendai Station West Exit
- Sendai Airport (SDJ)
(3) Akita Prefecture
- Akita Airport (AXT)
- Akita Station East Exit
(4) Fukushima Prefecture
- Koriyama Station West Exit

6. Nissan Rent a Car Locations

(1) Miyagi Prefecture
- Sendai Station East Exit
- Sendai Station North Exit
- Sendai City Hall Front
- Sendai Airport
(2) Fukushima Prefecture
- Fukushima Station Front
- Koriyama Station Front
- Shin-Shirakawa Station Front