r/okinawa • u/BrilliantPie2566 • 4d ago
I was stationed there on 730 Day. It was crazy.
On July 30, 1978 (known as 730 Day), Okinawa switched from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side. This change was required to comply with international traffic conventions mandating a uniform driving direction across a nation, aligning Okinawa with the rest of Japan.
The switch was a massive logistical operation involving the replacement of over 40,000 road signs, relocation of bus stops, and modification of 300,000 vehicles to aim headlights to the left. Traffic was halted for eight hours overnight, and the transition was managed by local police reinforced by officers from other parts of Japan. The event is commemorated by the 730 Monument on Ishigaki-jima, symbolizing the final step of Okinawa's post-WWII repatriation to Japan.
Okinawan drivers were uneasy and confused, but ultimately adapted.
Before the switch, polls showed roughly two-thirds of Okinawans were apprehensive about the change. Some openly questioned spending over $150 million on the conversion when the island still had acknowledged gaps in medical care and road infrastructure. A New York Times report from July 1978 noted the skepticism, with one Air Force maintenance man stationed there quipping, "It should be fun to watch, at least."
On the day itself, the experience was described as "chaos and fender-benders." There were 157 minor traffic accidents (fewer than authorities feared), with 32 involving injuries. The most common mistake was habitual: drivers would turn wide on the outside at intersections, the way they had for decades, cutting into oncoming traffic. One resident recalled her father making exactly that error: "That's the wrong way, wrong way!" Another childhood memory was watching, "mesmerized," as buses rolled out the other way with their doors on the opposite side.
In the long run, the confusion faded quickly. Within two months, the 730 Monument was erected on Ishigaki Island, and the date became a point of local pride marking Okinawa's full reintegration into Japan's traffic system.
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u/ChooChoo9321 3d ago
Sweden had something similar called the Högertrafikomläggningen or H Day. Reading this reminded me of that
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u/grap_grap_grap 1d ago
Some years before the change they had a nationwide vote and 83% of the population were against changing it. The Swedish government did it anyway.
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u/Total-random-495 4d ago
Same situation is going to happen to Hong Kong in 2047 when it will eventually become another Chinese city
Hong Kong drives on the left while mainland China drives on the right
That’s the legacy of British colonial rule which Hong Kong was under till 1997 when it was returned to China
Part of the agreement for return was that Hong Kong will maintain its autonomy for 50 years
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u/throwaway1029890 3d ago
Was this because the US drove on the right-hand side? Or what?