Because of the large increase in the number of foreign tourists, Okinawa Prefectural Police is replacing traffic warning signs with “STOP” or “SLOW” written in Japanese, with new ones by the end of December that have English text added on at a total of 143 locations including remote islands.

In the future, all 9,800 traffic signs in Okinawa with “STOP” and “SLOW” will be changed into ones with text in both languages.

According to Okinawa Prefectural Police, last year, 57 traffic accidents in Okinawa involved foreign tourists driving rented cars, and this year, there have been 47 similar cases by the end of August.

As the number of foreign tourists has been increasing, parts of the law “Order regarding traffic signs, lane division lines, and road markings” was changed in April resulting in traffic signs throughout Japan being changed.

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