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© KYODOOkinawa's 50th reversion anniversary events to be held May 15
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© KYODO
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Peter Neil
It was quite a day. At midnight, all the traffic converted from driving on the right to driving on the left.
noriahojanen
Wait, isn't it a state-sponsored rip-off? :)
The snap traffic switch happened on 30.7, 1978, 6 years after the Okinawa reversion.
一夜にして「車は左」 沖縄、本土復帰6年後の「日本化」
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/630661/
Peter Neil
I was told wrong. Thanks for the info.
ThonTaddeo
@Peter - There is a stone monument at the main traffic circle in front of the harbor on Ishigaki island commemorating the 7/30 switch date. I hadn't known about that until I visited that island for the first time.
Rodney
It is still occupied. And residents still don’t have full say on their concerns.
but on of my Japanese friends told that when she first visited Okinawa, she needed a visa, things got more positive.
Yubaru
Your "Japanese" friend is mistaken. Visas were not needed, but passports were and vice versa for people from Okinawa travelling to mainland Japan.
Sven Asai
No, it’s not, because that rip-off trick is not fully completed, as you have at least left the guaranteed value of 10,000¥ or 1,000¥. That’s a ‘generous’ leftover for you of 6.5% in case of the gold coins and 8.5% with the silver ones respectively. If you ever want more, you have to find someone, let’s say for example the 20,001st or 50,001st collector , who wants to have one too and is willing to pay a bit more than 10,000¥ or 1,000¥.
Yubaru
Or get lucky, like I did on 2 occasions over the years, and get a silver one in change from the cashier whilst I was food shopping! (Different commemorative coins of course!)
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Yep- nana san maru monument is still there !
factchecker
Wrong. That happened in July 1978.
Roxy Music
It was midnight on a day in July 1978. The conversion was sad for Okinawa. Unfortunately, it did not revert to become a sovereign nation.
Desert Tortoise
Driving a car with the steering wheel on the left side is, um, challenging when the roads are such that you drive on the left. Passing on a two lane road is sporty and the headlights are aimed the wrong way too, blinding oncoming traffic.
Yubaru
Be nice if folks would read more than just the FIRST post on a thread
starpunk
A noble gesture by then-President Nixon. Maybe it was to gain 'brownie points' for his reelection year, maybe not. Either way, Japan was/is a different place now, no longer fascist like it was during WW2. 1972 was a brand-new day.