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AQUA LINE SHORTCUT BACK TO TOKYO

A word of advice to anyone wanting to drive back to Tokyo on a
Sunday evening, especially in summer. Both the Wangan and Keio
expressways get badly congested. Trip times can easily exceed three hours.

Using the Aqua Line is the obvious alternative, since it is
deserted even at peak times and the 3,000-yen toll is not all that much
more than what you pay on the other routes. But there is one problem - a
vicious intersection at Ushiku where highway 297 running up from Otaki
meets highway 409 running east west from Mobara to Kisarazu. Traffic can
be badly delayed at peak times. Highway 409 from Ushiku across to the Aqua Line is also fairly ugly.

The neat way to avoid all this trouble is to look out for the
left turn onto highway 168 as you drive up 297. It is just beyond the
traffic lights turnoff for 171, and a few miles south of Ushiku.

Route 168 takes you through nice countryside to a collection of
lakes. Drive straight across the two bridges and a railway line to the
other side of the lakes where 168 swings due left with a sign for
Kisarazu. From there it is more driving through attractive rural country
till you hit the north-south Kamogawa road on the other side of the
peninsula. That road will take you to the far end of 409 and then on to
the Aqua Line if you like, but we suggest driving across that Kamogawa
road to hit 409 further down and closer to the Aqua Line.

If you leave 409 to get onto the Tateyama Highway and then on to
the entrance expressway for the Aqua Line it will cost an extra 550-yen.
Or you can stay on 409 and take the road directly under the entrance
expressway for free. Either way total time from Nakadaki should not be
much more than one hour. Allow 15 minutes for the Aqua Line and you
should be back in Tokyo in little over 90 minutes.

The alternative and fast route to Nakadaki via the Aqualine: (by Kyle Murphy)

Get on Shuto go across Bay Bridge and go towards Haneda (700 yen)

Go through the Aqua Line Tunnel (3,000 yen)

On the other side you follow the Expressway and it will come to a "T" with
the Tateyama Expressway. You want to go towards Chiba. NOT towards
Tateyama.

Get off at the first exit (Kita Kisarazu) after you get on the Tateyama Expressway. (550 yen.) (Note: You can avoid that toll by getting off the expressway at the Aqualine tollgate and driving under the expressway till you come to route 409 going off to the left.)

After you go through the toll both the road comes immediately to a "T" junction with a stoplight. You want to go to the right. The sign there says 409 and 33.

About 300 meters further on there is another stoplight. If you turn left it will take you to Rte 409 (if you decide to do this, follow the route 409 signs. After the turn it will follow a river for another 400 meters and then you turn right over the river. Keep following the signs for 409, but it will take you through a messy, crowded shopping center.)

(You can also go straight on Rte 33. Follow this road for about 1-2 km and
you will see a corner where you can follow 33 either to the right (sort of
straight) or to the left. TURN LEFT and follow the road and it will come
out on 409. The reason to do this is less stoplights, the wider road and less
traffic.)

Once you are back on 409 follow the road for about 1-2 km and eventually it
will cross a set of railroad tracks. Do not cross the RR tracks. At that
point you will see a sign that indicates Rte 168 (sign is overhead) straight
ahead. Go straight on this road. Eventually it will cross the Railroad.
Just beyond that crossing it will come up to Rte 410. The sign above for
Rte 168 will indicate you should turn onto RTe410 go about 150m and turn
left to be back on 168. Do not do this.

Go straight across Rte 410 and follow the road. Eventually it will come
into RTe 168. There is a school on the left at the point where they merge.

Follow Rte 168 through the mountains. Sometimes it gets very narrow but it
goes through. After about 20 minutes or so the road will come to a
point where you have the option of going straight (this would seem to be the
intuitive way but is incorrect) Turn Left. The road is wide at this point.
Overhead is a sign indicating that if you go straight it will take you to a
camping ground.

Keep going straight on Rte 168. It will come to broad valley with a large Lake (reservoir actually). At this point (it is a "T") turn to the right and follow the road. You will come to a stoplight where you go straight. Just a few hundred meters beyond there is another railroad crossing. Go up and over the hill. At the foot of the hill on the other side you will again hit the lake
(or its cousin). At that corner is a temple on the left and an excellent soba shop is on the right. You can park in front or back. The sansai soba and age tempura (with little shrimp) is to die for.

After the refreshments keep going straight on Rte 168. Through here the road is narrow but the views are spectacular. Eventually the road will come out on Rte 297. Here turn to the right.

(The reason for taking 168 is to avoid a very uninteresting 409 and an ugly long delay intersection in a depressing little berg called Ushiku.)

You will follow Rte 297 for a fairly good length of time. It will come into an area (I hesitate to call it a city) called Otaki. There is a shopping center with a Gusto, MacDonald’s, pachinko Parlors etc. This is important because just beyond the Gusto's is an intersection where Rte 465 crosses 297. AT THIS POINT TURN LEFT onto 465. Follow this road for about 8kms. It will cross a river and just beyond there is an intersection with Rte 152 coming in from the left. TURN LEFT ONTO RTE 152. From here it is about 5kms to the Promised Land.

You will go through a tunnel (Kaya, I believe) with the river you just crossed over to your left. Eventually, the road will come to a strange little corner and you will follow around to the right. (If you were to turn left you would re-cross the river on a red bridge).

From that strange little corner it is about 300 yards to the Nakadaki Center turnoff, marked by a purple beauty house on the left and a car repair shop on the left. Turn right, and the center is another 400 yards further on.

To go to Kyle's place, go a further 1 km until you see a overhead sign in cream color announcing that the Misaki Dam is a few kilometers to the right. (Another sign in Japanese says the Kiyomizu Temple is also off to the right.) Turn right and go along this two-lane highway for about 800meters. It will climb the hill and go through a wide cut in the hill. Right at the top of the hill where the cement blocks which are used to prevent landslides ends there is a narrow small road that climbs up
the hill. TURN VERY SHARP RGHT onto that road and follow it straight to the end. It will cross one small road and then at the end it turns left. I am on the right at that corner. I will be the good-looking guy standing in front.

If you miss the Misaki Dam sign and keep going straight you will come into Misaki. This is too far. Turn around and go back. Also, do not cross anymore railroad tracks.

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