It is owned and operated by Central Nippon Expressway Company.

Higashi (東) means east; together with the Meihan Expressway and Nishi-Meihan Expressway, it forms a corridor linking the greater Nagoya and Osaka areas.

In some areas, signs on the route are written in Japanese as 東名阪道 or ひがし名阪道; this is to prevent confusion with the Tōmei Expressway which looks similar when written in Japanese.

The expressway runs from Nagoya-nishi Junction in Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya to Ise-Seki Interchange in Tsu.

The exit numbers continue from the sequence of the Mei-Nikan Expressway, starting at 23.