Before you go
This site offers information based on guidance from road companies, public agencies, rental car companies and others, to help you get ready for your trip (as of September 2026), but tolls, discounts and the way toll booths work can change. Before you leave, always check the official guidance listed at the end of this article, and the company you’re booking with, for the latest details.
There’s a toll booth at every expressway entrance and exit.
Several lanes sit side by side, each with words shown above it.
Those words are all you need to look at.
Three signs to read at the toll booth
【ETC専用】 (“ETC only”) — Only cars with an ETC card inserted can go through.
【ETC/一般】 (“ETC / general”) — You can go through with or without an ETC card.
【一般】 (“general”) — The lane for cars not using ETC, where you take a ticket or pay.
If it just says 【ETC】, it’s a lane for cars with an ETC card inserted.
In the diagrams from NEXCO CENTRAL (NEXCO中日本) and in JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization) guidance, ETC is shown in purple and 一般 in green.
But the same lane can switch between 【ETC専用】 and 【ETC/一般】 depending on the time of day.
Get a rough idea from the color, and decide by the words. Remember that, and you won’t panic as you pull up.
If you have an ETC card inserted
Go into 【ETC専用】 or 【ETC/一般】.
Before you enter the lane, slow down to 20 km/h or less.
If 【↑】 appears on the display ahead on your right, keep going. If it says 【STOP 停車】 (“stop”), stop before the barrier.
In an 【ETC/一般】 lane, the car ahead may stop to pay. Leave a gap before you go in.
Go in slowly, and even if the barrier doesn’t open, you can stop cleanly in front of it.
If you don’t have an ETC card
Go into 【一般】 or 【ETC/一般】.
At the entrance, a machine gives you a ticket called a 通行券 (“toll ticket”). Take it.
At the exit, hand this ticket to the attendant, or put it into the toll payment machine and pay.
You can pay in Japanese yen cash or by credit card. Some toll booths don’t take credit cards, and cards issued abroad sometimes don’t go through, so on days you use the expressway, carry a little cash in yen.
Until you reach the exit, keep the 通行券 in one set place, without folding it or getting it wet.
Entrances and exits only ETC can use
There are ETC-only toll booths (ETC専用料金所), where every lane is 【ETC専用】.
The “Smart IC” (スマートIC), a type of interchange (IC) partway along the expressway, is also an entrance and exit you can use only with ETC.
At a Smart IC, stop once in front of the barrier; once you’ve stopped, the unit starts communicating and the barrier opens. If it doesn’t open, press the button in the lane.
Some Smart ICs can’t be used by certain types of vehicle or at certain times, and some may be closed. If so, just use the next IC.
Rent an ETC card, and you can choose entrances and exits like these too (how to rent one is in the “ETC Card” article).
Keep a note of the IC where you got on
If you get stuck at the exit toll booth, or lose your ticket, the attendant at the exit will ask which IC you got on at, and roughly what time.
Before you get on, take a screenshot of the IC in your map app. If someone’s riding with you, having them photograph the IC sign works too.
Even if you can’t read it, showing that gets the message across.
If you get stuck
The barrier won’t open, you drove into an ETC lane without a card, you lost your ticket. What to do then is in the “If You Get Stuck at a Toll Booth” article.
※ Toll booth equipment, lane signs and the conditions for using Smart ICs differ by road company and toll booth. When you actually drive, follow the signs on site.
