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The Japanese coastline, particularly along the eastern and south-eastern submergent coasts, has undergone massive extension to accommodate the rapid post-war expansion of industry. From Tokyo Bay, which began to be filled from as early as the eighteenth century, to the southern tip of Honsho, there is an almost continuous ribbon of landfill, comprising 160,000 hectares protected by 10,000 km of dykes. The Tokyo Bay Highway Loop connects Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Kisarazu and Chiba in a series of artificial islands and tunnels. Kansai International Airport, opened in 1994 as the country's second most important transportation hub, was constructed entirely on the former ōsaka Bay.