Route 52 was originally designated on 18 May 1953 as a section of National Route 141. After it was extended to Kōfu, this section was redesignated as Route 52 when the route was promoted to a Class 1 highway.
References
^"一般国道の路線別、都道府県別道路現況" [Road statistics by General National Highway route and prefecture] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Retrieved 19 February 2020.