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| Japan National Route 137 | |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Type | National |
| Route | 137 |
| Length km | 30.0 |
| Established | 1953 |
| Direction a | South |
| Terminus a | Kōfu |
| Direction b | North |
| Terminus b | Fujiyoshida |
| Prefectures | Yamanashi Prefecture |
Japan National Route 137 is a national highway in Japan connecting Kōfu and Fujiyoshida in Yamanashi Prefecture. The route serves as a regional connector between the Chūbu region interior and the northern approaches to Mount Fuji, providing access to transportation nodes, cultural sites, and industrial zones. Managed by national and prefectural agencies, the road supports commuter, tourist, and freight traffic in the Fuji Five Lakes area.
National Route 137 runs north–south across central Yamanashi Prefecture, beginning near the urban center of Kōfu and terminating at the base of Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida. Along its course the route passes near Kai Province historical sites, skirts the southern edge of the Chūbu Mountains, and provides connections to the Ōme Kaidō corridor and the Chūō Expressway system. The alignment traverses mixed land uses including residential districts of Kōfu Station environs, industrial parks adjacent to Yamanashi Gakuin University, agricultural terraces in the Fuefuki River valley, and tourism facilities serving Lake Kawaguchi and Arakurayama Sengen Park. Major crossings include spans over the Fuefuki River and intersections with routes toward Minobu, Otsuki, and the Fuji-Q Highland recreation area.
The route traces corridors used since the Edo period when roads linked the shogunal routes of Tōkaidō and Kōshū Kaidō to northern approaches of Kai Province. In the Meiji Restoration era the path was modernized to serve Kōfu Domain administrative centers and later supported industrial expansion associated with Yamanashi Prefecture textile mills and precision manufacturing firms. Designated as a national route in the postwar 1953 reorganization of highways overseen by the Ministry of Construction (Japan), the corridor saw successive upgrades during the Showa period and Heisei era including pavement widening, bridge replacements after 1964 Summer Olympics national infrastructure initiatives, and seismic retrofits following lessons from the Great Hanshin earthquake (1995). More recent history includes integration into regional tourism plans promoted by Yamanashi Prefectural Government and emergency-response routing refined after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Key junctions include the southern terminus at central Kōfu where the route connects with arterial roads serving Yamanashi Prefectural Office precincts and links to National Route 20 toward Shinjuku and Nagoya. Mid-route intersections provide access to National Route 358 toward Minobu and junctions toward Otsuki and the Chūō Main Line rail corridor operated by East Japan Railway Company. The northern terminus in Fujiyoshida ties into prefectural roads servicing Lake Kawaguchi, the Shiraito Falls access, and tourist routes to Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha. Interchanges near industrial zones enable freight transfers to Kōfu-Matsumoto Expressway spurs and municipal roads serving Yamanashi Prefectural Central Hospital and commercial districts anchored by AEON Group shopping centers.
Traffic patterns on the route reflect a mix of commuter flows between Kōfu Station and suburban neighborhoods, tourist surges en route to Mount Fuji attractions such as Fuji-Q Highland and the Fujisan World Heritage Center, and freight movements supporting manufacturers like Seiko Epson and local agricultural distribution networks for fruits from the Fuji region. Seasonal peaks occur during Golden Week, Obon, and New Year holidays when visitors converge on the Fuji Five Lakes precincts. Traffic monitoring by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Yamanashi traffic offices indicates varied hourly volumes with congestion concentrated at urban intersections and holiday bottlenecks near the Chūbu Mountains approaches.
Administration of the route is shared between the national highway agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Yamanashi Prefectural Government, with municipal cooperation from Kōfu City and Fujiyoshida City. Routine maintenance includes pavement resurfacing, winter snow clearance coordinated with the Japan Meteorological Agency advisories, bridge inspections aligned with standards from the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, and seismic-strengthening programs coordinated with the Cabinet Office (Japan) disaster-preparedness initiatives. Contracted works frequently involve local construction firms and equipment suppliers, with funding from national road budgets and prefectural capital expenditures.
Planned improvements emphasize resilience, capacity, and tourist access: proposals include selective widening at bottleneck segments near Kōfu commercial districts, construction of bypasses to relieve historic town centers influenced by Kofu Castle proximity, enhanced junctions with the Chūō Expressway network, and deployment of intelligent-transportation-system pilot projects linked to Smart City initiatives in Yamanashi Prefecture. Environmental mitigation measures aim to protect watersheds feeding Fuefuki River and preserve viewsheds of Mount Fuji under cultural-property guidelines administered by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan). Coordination with regional development plans from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and tourism promotion by Japan National Tourism Organization continues to shape funding and phasing.
Category:Roads in Yamanashi Prefecture Category:National highways in Japan