Abstract
Following on the delivery of Road Law in 1919, the First Road Improvement Program was formulated in the subsequent year. The Road Law was enacted because of thearmy's keen interest in the road development, which was aroused by the vital role the motor vehicle transport had played during the World War I. The budget for First Road Improvement Program was rapidly reduced in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, but new merits of roads were attached great importance in the context of industrial infrastructure, which led to the formulation of the Second Road Improvement Program in 1933. Aiming to promote both regional andhichistrialdeveropment through road improvement, the Program was being implemented undererial jurisdiction. Although the Program was interrupted, due to the building war structure, the National Expressway System Program was formulated in 1943 to develop expressways nationwide. The post-war policies to associate the regional and industrialdevelopmentwith highway improvement had thusalready originated before the World War II
