730 (transport)

The 730 (Nana-San-Maru) was the day July 30, 1978, when Okinawa Prefecture of Japan switched back from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left.

Originally, Okinawa drove on the left-hand side of the road, the same as the rest of Japan. However, after the defeat of Japan during World War II, the prefecture went under control of the United States and on June 24, 1945, was made to drive on the right. Even after Okinawa returned to Japanese control in 1972, it still had its traffic driving on the right for six years due to delays in the handover to Japan and delays to the Expo '75. However, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic that restricts one country to have only one traffic direction, all the traffic in the prefecture was changed back to driving on the left on July 30, 1978. It is one of very few places to have changed from right- to left- traffic in the late twentieth century. The day symbolized Okinawa's return to Japan.

All traffic, except emergency vehicles, was banned from 22:00 July 29, 1978. Eight hours after, at 06:00 July 30, traffic resumed, changed on the left-hand side. Traffic signs were changed within these eight hours.

As there were not enough police officers in Okinawa Prefecture to control all the traffic for the day, reinforcements were assembled from other parts of Japan.

Most left-hand side signs and signals were installed and covered before July 30. During the eight-hour transition, the covers were removed and transferred to the old right-hand side signs. The scheme was called the Kudaka Scheme (久高方式, Kudaka Hōshiki^?), after Hiroshi Kudaka (久高弘, Kudaka Hiroshi^?), Okinawa Prefectural police officer in charge of 730, who "invented" the scheme.

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