Do you need an ETC card to drive in Osaka?

Two road networks meet around Osaka. NEXCO West runs the intercity expressways such as the Meishin, Chugoku and Hanwa. Hanshin Expressway runs the urban loop and the routes to Kobe and Kansai Airport. Both are moving away from cash.

Nationally, 95.9% of expressway traffic already used ETC in June 2026, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The ministry set a roadmap in December 2020 to make tollgates largely ETC-only within about five years in cities and about ten years elsewhere.

That target is now visible on the ground:

  • NEXCO West converted 30 tollgates to ETC-only between 17 March and 8 April 2026, 18 of them in Kansai, including Takarazuka, Kaminogo near Kansai Airport, Hannan and Uji-nishi.
  • Its ETC-only tollgate page lists four more Kansai tollgates switching from 1 September 2026.
  • Hanshin Expressway announced 23 more ETC-only tollgates in the 2026 financial year, rolling out from June 2026 to March 2027, and a cumulative 100 by the 2028 financial year.

What does a car without ETC pay on Hanshin Expressway?

Hanshin charges ETC users by distance in ¥10 steps, with a floor of ¥300 and a ceiling of ¥1,950 for an ordinary car, per its toll page. Many Hanshin exits have no booth, so a cash car cannot prove how far it went. It is charged the toll to the farthest exit reachable from its entrance.

The Hanshin toll FAQ confirms the distance fare only applies when the ETC unit completes a wireless exchange at both entry and exit. A card that is missing or badly inserted puts you on the maximum fare.

How much are expressway tolls from Osaka?

These are ordinary-car tolls from the NEXCO toll search on Drive Plaza for a weekday 10:00 departure on 24 September 2026, cheapest suggested route.

Trip Without ETC With ETC Distance
Awaza (central Osaka, Hanshin) to Ikutagawa (Kobe) ¥1,950 ¥1,250 30.4 km
Toyonaka IC to Kyoto-minami IC (Meishin) ¥1,360 ¥1,360 36.7 km
Toyonaka IC to Kyoto-higashi IC ¥1,680 ¥1,680 46.6 km
Izumisano IC (near Kansai Airport) to Awaza ¥3,470 ¥2,650 71.9 km
Takarazuka IC (ETC-only entrance) to Hiroshima IC ¥6,860 ¥6,860 300.5 km

Two patterns stand out. On NEXCO-only trips such as Toyonaka to Kyoto, cash and ETC cost the same, so the card's value is lane access rather than price. Once Hanshin is part of the trip, the ETC price is lower, by ¥700 on the Kobe run and ¥820 from the airport side.

Drive Plaza also notes that the city of Izumisano charges a ¥100 bridge tax per round trip for vehicles crossing to Kansai Airport.

Worked example: a week based in Osaka

Say you land at Kansai Airport, drive to central Osaka, make a return trip to Kobe and a return trip to Kyoto, then drive back to the airport.

Leg With ETC Without ETC
Izumisano to Awaza, and the same route back ¥5,300 ¥6,940
Awaza to Ikutagawa and back ¥2,500 ¥3,900
Toyonaka to Kyoto-minami and back ¥2,720 ¥2,720
ETC card rental (Toyota) ¥550 ¥0
Total ¥11,070 ¥13,560

The card saves ¥2,490 on this plan and removes the risk of meeting an ETC-only entrance with no way through. Getting from your hotel to Toyonaka IC is on local roads, and actual Hanshin fares depend on the ramps you use, so treat these totals as a planning figure.

Getting the ETC card and using it

Toyota Rent a Car rents ETC cards for ¥550 per rental, tax included, and asks you to pay the accumulated tolls by credit card or cash when you return the car. Nippon Rent-A-Car says card rental depends on the office, so request it when booking rather than at the counter.

What if you reach an ETC-only gate without a card?

Do not reverse. NEXCO West tells drivers without ETC, or with no card inserted, to move into the lane marked サポート (Support) or ETC/サポート, stop, and follow staff instructions by intercom. Staff then deal with the toll at that lane.

Where the gate still has general lanes, NEXCO West's English guide explains the old way: take a ticket at the entrance and pay cash or card at the exit. Hanshin notes that cash vehicles also lose some transfer privileges when a connecting entrance becomes ETC-only.

Visitor passes: what exists in 2026

Japan's flat-rate expressway passes for visitors are regional and sold only through rental companies with an ETC card. ORIX lists passes for Hokkaido, Tohoku, San'in-Setouchi-Shikoku and Kyushu, and notes that the Central Nippon Expressway Pass stopped on 1 October 2024. NEXCO Central's page confirms it has closed new bookings. No nationwide Japan Expressway Pass was on sale on the NEXCO sites checked in September 2026.

The San'in-Setouchi-Shikoku Expressway Pass (SEP)

The SEP is for holders of non-Japanese passports and Japanese citizens with permanent residence abroad.

Days Price Days Price
3 ¥10,700 7 ¥14,700
4 ¥11,700 8 ¥15,700
5 ¥12,700 9 ¥16,700
6 ¥13,700 10 ¥17,700

The user agreement lists the covered sections. For drivers leaving Osaka, the key ones start at Takarazuka IC on the Chugoku Expressway, Kobe JCT on the Shin-Meishin, and Kobe-nishi on the San'yo. The Meishin to Kyoto, the Hanwa to the airport, Hanshin Expressway and the Akashi-Kaikyo and Seto bridges to Shikoku are outside it. Driving from an interchange outside the area to one inside means paying separately for the part outside.

A "day" on SEP is a calendar day from 0:00 to 23:59, so a 72-hour rental that starts at 13:00 needs a four-day pass.

Worked example: is SEP worth it for Hiroshima?

A round trip from Takarazuka IC to Hiroshima IC costs ¥13,720 at the ¥6,860 one-way ETC fare above.

Plan Tolls on covered roads Pass cost Saving
3 calendar days ¥13,720 ¥10,700 ¥3,020
4 calendar days ¥13,720 ¥11,700 ¥2,020
4 days with a detour to Okayama and Kurashiki more than ¥13,720 ¥11,700 grows with each extra trip

The pass wins on this route, but only just if the dates stretch. For an Osaka base with day trips to Kyoto, Nara or Kobe, SEP saves nothing because those roads are not covered.

Check which licence documents Japan accepts in our guide to renting a car in Japan with an IDP or translation. For Hokkaido tolls, the Hokkaido pass and snow, see winter driving around Sapporo.