National Route 280's path across Aomori and Hokkaido follows one of the oldest roads in northern Japan, the Matsumaedō.

It was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu for government officials traveling through the area as a branch of the Edo Five Routes and it had some defensive importance to the Japanese who feared a Russian incursion into Ezo, which was ruled by the Matsumae clan.

[3] National Route 280's path through Hokkaido begins at the port where the ferry from Minmaya used to travel to in Fukushima.

Its primary purpose was for government officials traveling through the area as a branch of the Ōshū Kaidō, one of the Edo Five Routes connecting the capital to the rest of Japan.

[2][5] National Route 280 was established by the Cabinet of Japan along the Edo period road and the ferry linking Sotogahama and Fukushima in 1970.