Driving in Okinawa Japan

The most important thing to remember when driving in Okinawa or anywhere in Japan is, to drive on the LEFT side of the road. This may seem confusing at first for people from countries where the custom is to drive on the right side of the road, but it is not so hard and most people can adjust rather quickly.

Japanese traffic signs follow international standards making the symbols easy to follow even if you can not read the Japanese characters (kanji) written on some of them.
 

Traffic on the Okinawa main Island (Okinawa Honto) tends to rather heavy especially on weekends as most people drive to get everywhere because there are no trains except the Yui Rail in Naha. During bad weather such as rain and typhoons drivers tend to slow down making traffic even worse than usual. Plan for extra time than guide books or other information recommends to get places especial when in or near any of the larger cities when renting a car in Okinawa Japan.