The 11.7-kilometer-long (7.3 mi) elevated expressway was planned as a part of Tokyo's post-war redevelopment before the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The expressway, an elevated highway, is paralleled by various surface-level streets along its entire length, primarily National Route 246.

Continuing southwest into Meguro, the expressway begins its run directly above the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line.

It was one of a network of eight expressway routes "designed to allow 60,000 vehicles travelling at 60kmper hour" planned to span Tokyo upon completion.

The elevated expressway has no shoulders, so turnouts at regular intervals provide places for drivers to park in case of an emergency.

In the novel, one of these emergency stairways serves as a gateway to an alternate reality, a fictionalized version of 1984 that the main character, Aomame, is transported to.