Chairman of the Board
Akira Nagao
In December 1957, just a year after the establishment of Japan Highway Public Corporation, the Express Highway Research Foundation of Japan was founded in cooperation with industrial, government, and academic organizations for the purpose of research pertaining to expressways, including economics, engineering, traffic control, transportation, automobiles, and other related industries.
Facing with various changes in circumstances of expressways including the privatization of Japan Highway Public Corporation in 2005, the foundation has carried on this founding mission. We have worked to fulfill our role as an independent research institute supporting expressways industry. The basic principle governing our present activities is "to contribute to the sustainable development of society by enhancing the value and benefits of the expressways." We extend our deepest gratitude for all support and cooperation we have received for these years.
Nowadays, Japan is under the unprecedented social structural changes, such as a decline in the working-age population due to the low birthrate and longevity, as well as the mission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, countermeasures for logistics 2024 issues and the Work Style Reform in the next normal after the COVID-19.
Under such tides, expressways are required to address the dissemination of connected autonomous vehicles, the aging and globalization of drivers, and the development of rest facilities that offer a variety of services.
Expressways are no longer just spaces for vehicles to transport people and goods than indispensable infrastructure for national and economic development, transporting information and culture fast, effectively and fluently.
To sustain and develop these functions, expressways should be safer and more resilient to the severe natural disasters that are expected to occur in the future and to the aging of the structures.
With the office relocation in February 2024, we will continue making every effort to accomplish our tasks in this brochure and undertakes further contributions by enhancing quality of the programs we provide in the years ahead. We humbly ask for your continued unwavering guidance and assistance.