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One day during the rainy season, I drove my car from my home in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture to Asagiri Kogen in Shizuoka Prefecture. Unfortunately, it was cloudy. We couldn't even see Mt. Fuji because of the haze. He seemed worried that this wasn't going to work. On the way back from a roadside station and a ranch, Tomei Expressway was jammed. While we were talking in the car, I realized that he had looked worried, so I urged him to hurry up and say it. After fidgeting for a bit, he said, "Will you marry me?" I got a proposal. Of course, I said yes. It took more than four hours to get back, but even that is a good memory that I still remember clearly. Now, I enjoy traveling every year with my husband and children on Expressway.

The year after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, I was driving alone from Yamaguchi. Sanyo Expressway was closed, so I headed to Kanto on Chugoku Expressway. Chugoku Expressway at night was pitch black, had many curves, and the service areas were only for trucks. I was still in my early 20s, so I felt lonely and just wanted to get home quickly. I continued driving all night, only stopping for toilet breaks, and the next morning, when I handed over my pass at a toll gate in Tokyo, someone said to me, "You've come all the way from far away. Good job. Be careful from now on." I had been tense with anxiety and fatigue until then, but I felt so relieved that I almost cried. Even now, when I pass a toll gate, I remember those words and I am reminded that I want to be kind to others.

My last trip with my sick father was to Shinshu, on Chuo Expressway. I can still hear him laughing as he looked out the window in the passenger seat, saying, "Let's come again." The warm soba we ate together at Suwako SA, the mountains dyed in autumn leaves, all of these were irreplaceable moments. After my father passed away, I drove the same road alone. Chuo Expressway is still the road that connects me to my father from that day. His smile gently overlaps with the scenery that flows by. I want to take my children on that road again someday. Family memories will continue to pile up on Chuo Expressway.

I lost my mother at an early age, and on New Year's Day I often went to Fujikawa SA with my father to watch the first sunrise. However, in the past few years, my father developed dementia and began to require nursing care. His symptoms worsened day by day, to the point where he could no longer live alone. I was forced to reluctantly quit my job. Meanwhile, I was a little tired of caring for him, so on New Year's Day I took my father to Fujikawa SA. By that time, my father could no longer tell the difference between morning and afternoon, but when we saw the first sunrise from the observation deck, he muttered, "This brings back memories." Even if he forgets many things, he probably never forgets his precious memories. In the end, I cried secretly while carrying my father on my back.

In the fall of 2024, I returned to Japan after a year of studying abroad in the UK. Late at night, my father was waiting for me in the arrival lobby of Komatsu Airport in Ishikawa with a smile on his face. The Japanese greeting of "Welcome back" eased my fatigue in a foreign country. The car my father was driving started to slide onto Hokuriku Expwy. "How was your study abroad?" I answered the short question and he told me all about his life abroad. The fun things, the hardships, the people he met. My father listened to me, nodding along and occasionally asking questions. The city lights seeping out onto Expressway at night. As we entered the city, the sparkle increased, and the welcoming mood seemed to intensify, which was comfortable. It was about an hour to Nishi-Kanazawa, the closest place to my house. The road was clear of traffic, but at this moment I felt a deep sadness about leaving.

When I was a truck driver, I once took my son to Nagoya. On the way, he said, "Daddy, I need to pee!", so we rushed to the Ashigara Service Area, and then he said, "Poop! Poop!", so we went to the Hamamatsu Service Area. It was a very tense time. But there was also something funny. When I said, "This is Tomei Expwy," in the car, my son burst into tears, saying, "What! Tomei? It's disappearing! I'm scared! I'm scared!" In the end, he kept crying, saying, "The road is disappearing." That cute son is now a respectable member of society. Today, he is driving on Tomei Expwy in a 4-ton truck.

When my children were small, the parking areas we would stop at whenever we went on a family trip were always "places to hold them." I would hold their small bodies and go everywhere with them, to the restroom, to the shops. Eventually, little by little, they learned to hold hands and walk, and gradually they began to run around the parking area on their small feet. "Let's go over there!" my child said with shining eyes. And the other day, when my child said, "I'm hungry," I asked, "Well, why don't you go and buy something for yourself?" He looked around a little anxiously, but clutched his small wallet, and I watched him walk off to the convenience store. I will never forget the smile he returned proudly a few minutes later.

Three years ago, I went back to my parents' hometown in Kyushu. My father said, "I want to go back home in the new car we just bought," so we decided to go to Kyushu by car. I wasn't very keen on it because the Shinkansen is easier. On Tomei Expwy, we talked about work, love, and the future, and we had a surprisingly good time. Thinking back, it seems like we've talked less and less for long periods of time as we've gotten older. We ate Hatcho Miso Ramen together at Okazaki SA, and while taking a smoke break in the smoking area, I suddenly thought to myself, "Maybe this is the kind of time my father would have wanted to spend with us." It's a precious memory with my father that we were able to spend because of the long journey.

I had been crying my eyes out for a long time after my breakup. My father couldn't bear to see me like that so he invited me on a drive. It was my first drive with my father in a long time. It was awkward at first, but we gradually started talking about how we used to go on drives like this, and it felt like I had traveled back in time to when I was little. At first, we didn't have a specific destination in mind, but we naturally ended up at Fujikawa SA, which I used to drive through when I was little on the Tomei Expressway. When I was little, I was asleep when we passed that SA, but it seems that my father loved the view of Mt. Fuji from there and had wanted to show it to me someday. The view I saw for the first time was warmer and more beautiful than any I had ever seen, and my tears of sadness turned into tears of emotion.

"Today is transparent." Those were the words of my father that excited me the most when I was five years old. On "Transparent Day," the whole family would get in the car and first buy a large piece of fried chicken, a kelp rice ball, and gummy candy with sour crunchy crust at a convenience store. While eating those, my father, mother, and sister would play a word chain game and head to my grandmother's house. It felt special and exciting when my father played my favorite idol's song while driving, and when we rode in a car that was as fast as a roller coaster. 19 years have passed since then. Now I'm driving on Tomei Expwy with my father and mother in the back seat. We don't play word chain games with gummy candy anymore, but the excitement of "Transparent Day" is the same as it was back then.

When I was a child, I went to many places in my father's car. This was before car navigation systems. My mother, who was in the passenger seat, would give directions to my father while looking at a thick map, but she often made mistakes at the forks in the road. As a result, the destination would often change, such as going to the mountains instead of the sea. When we entered a tunnel, it became pitch black, and my sister and I would get excited and squeal every time this happened, and my mother would often scold us, saying, "Be quiet, Dad can't concentrate on driving!!" I have stronger memories of the travel than the places we went to, such as the soft serve ice cream we had at the service area, and the time we spent playing word chain games together as a family while stuck in traffic. I want to leave such happiness for my children.

During the Obon holidays, my father would often drive me to my grandmother's house. In those days, my brother and I had a favorite service area, and even during the crowded Obon holidays, I would often beg my father to stop by that service area. My father would buy us the famous soft serve ice cream, which we would eat as a family. Now that my father has passed away, my brother takes the wheel and takes us to the countryside. We always stop at that service area, eat the ice cream, and reminisce about our childhood memories. I still feel a little happiness during that time. If I ever have children, I will definitely take them there.

Due to various circumstances, I have been living with my daughter at my brother-in-law's house for a long time now. When I first came to Tokyo and became a family with my brother-in-law, Expressway we took together - my brother-in-law, me, and my daughter - was Tomei Expwy. I still can't forget it. I still remember the spectacular view of Mt. Fuji from Ashigara...it was the first time I'd ever seen such a thing. Then, after that, my brother-in-law hugged me and my daughter and told me, "We'll always be a family," and I couldn't stop crying. Since that day, it has become a tradition in our family to come to this place on Expressway on my birthday.

I met up with a friend for the first time in four years and we drove north on Shin-Tomei Expwy to see Mt. Fuji. It was a great opportunity to relax and unwind after such a long time, despite our busy schedules. As we drove around the road, catching up on stories and joking about trivial things, we both gasped as we rounded a curve and Mt. Fuji appeared before our eyes. We were overcome with emotion and speechless at its beauty, and for a while we were speechless. It was supposed to have just been a drive, but that day, Shin-Tomei Expressway became a "road of memories."