The Right Side Of The Road Is Wrong? What?
[October 18th] -- I joined the Air Force in 1978 to get away from Washington D.C. as much as I did to see the world. After three months of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, I was assigned to a technical training squadron at Keesler Air Force Base near Biloxi Mississippi. My job was to be an "administrative assistant," a Radar O'Reilly for the squadron commander.
I graduated in the top 10% of my class, which provide me with several perks. My favorite was the "initial assignment guarantee," which let me choose my first station. "Where do you want to go?" asked the personnel specialist?" I thought for a moment and replied, "Anywhere that has right-side drive." I was happy to serve my country where ever they wanted me, but the thought of driving on the left side of the road scared me to death.
Three weeks later, my orders came: Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Japan. "Hey, wait a second," I began, "I was guaranteed right side drive!" The person in charged chuckled and told me to relax, that the Island of Okinawa, though part of the Ryukyu chain, was in fact right side drive. Cool. I arrived at Kadena a month later, and sure enough, the guy was right: RIGHT SIDE DRIVE.
After exploring Naha City for a few days, I began to see a logo on just about anything and everything governmental. It showed a two-lane road way with an arrow that moved from the right side to the left side of the road. There was a date of "7/30" as well.
I asked a friend one day what it meant. I was stunned by his reply. "Oh, the U.S. is giving the island back to the Japanese on July 30th, and when they do, we have to start driving on the left side of the road."
Unbelievable.
The week before the changeover, police from the main island of Japan began to arrive on the island. They covered all the street signs with canvas sacks. At midnight on July 30, the police stopped all road traffic throughout the island. Workers then began the process of turning the street signs the other way. By sunrise, they took off the sign covers. At 6:00 a.m., cars began to drive on the left side of the road. Now, this would have been difficult enough, but a small typhoon hit the island that same day. Cars were trying to drive on the "wrong side" while fighting 60 m.p.h. winds.
Unbelievable.
Over the next four months, new traffic lights were installed. Slowly, as the Japanese got used to the new system, the police were withdrawn and sent back to the mainland. Today, I doubt very many people remember much of that day. I sure do, though.
Unbelievable.
