{"id":64927,"date":"2026-05-10T23:25:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=64927"},"modified":"2026-06-01T23:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:08:14","slug":"a-time-lapse-nighttime-tour-of-tokyos-shuto-metropolitan-expressway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/05\/10\/a-time-lapse-nighttime-tour-of-tokyos-shuto-metropolitan-expressway\/","title":{"rendered":"A time-lapse nighttime tour of Tokyo's Shuto Metropolitan Expressway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tokyo is the world's largest city, with a population of 14 million people and a metropolitan area of \u200b\u200b41 million.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/01\/11\/tokyo-at-night-seen-from-above-in-a-stunning-8k-video\/\">Tokyo at night seen from above in a stunning 8K video<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/04\/12\/a-route-with-breathtaking-views-of-majestic-fuji-japans-sacred-mountain\/\">A route with breathtaking views of majestic Fuji, Japan's sacred mountain<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>To travel around this megalopolis, there is <strong>a 322.5-kilometer-long expressway network: the Shuto Expressway<\/strong>, also known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway. <strong>Established in 1959, it is a toll highway network whose main owner is the Government of Japan<\/strong>, followed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, and the cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Due to its numerous curves and elevation changes, most sections have a maximum speed limit of 60 km\/h.<\/strong> It has four ring roads and eleven radial roads. This highway network became famous a few years ago for races organized by some high-speed enthusiasts, who reached speeds of up to 300 km\/h. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@DashcamRoadshow\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dashcam Roadshow<\/a> <strong>has today released an intense time-lapse video traveling along this highway network<\/strong>, with a pleasant musical accompaniment created by the video's author using artificial intelligence with Suno AI:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tokyo Met. EXPWY Night Drive 4K [3x Speed | Music] Bayshore Route - Yokohane Route - Mukojima Route\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vLfpGUgsWi8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>There are two details in the video that stand out. The first is that you don't see a single piece of graffiti.<\/strong> In Spain, it doesn't matter if you're driving on a highway with difficult pedestrian access: it's common to see graffiti even in the most dangerous places. However, <strong>the Shuto Expressway is immaculate<\/strong>, with well-painted road markings and clearly indicated curves and crests. <strong>By the way, be aware: In Japan, they drive in the British style<\/strong>, that is, on the left, which is why the people in the video are overtaking on the right.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The other detail is that you see a lot of four-axle trucks.<\/strong> These trucks have been disappearing in Spain since the 1990s due to European regulations, which favor semi-trailers (trucks consisting of a tractor unit and a trailer). <strong>Four-axle trucks are safer<\/strong>, and it's striking to see that there are still many in Japan. You can see some screenshots from this excellent video here.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755297_da2a6dd295_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755297_fcbc350df0_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55262052105_9817be70a0_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55262052105_c3d3295f46_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755307_e099a93024_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755307_fb8f4ceb07_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755302_7e5216ec2a_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55260755302_29378003e1_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tokyo is the world&#8217;s largest city, with a population of 14 million people and a metropolitan area of \u200b\u200b41 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19075,19535],"tags":[12880,26090,27050],"class_list":["post-64927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-routes","category-exploring-portada-eng","tag-japan","tag-tokyo","tag-shuto-expressway"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 22:27:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}