Changing traffic system in Okinawa and problems in the 21st century

Since its return to Japan in 1972, Okinawa, which is different climatically and culturally from the rest of Japan, has transformed at all levels of society, for example, a drastic change in the living environment, road improvement, and diet diversification. Although the existing roads have been paved and improved, road construction has not been kept up with the increasing automobile traffic volume. The Tokyo area and other Japanese cities are making every effort to create a universal traffic management system (UTMS)-based traffic environment to ensure the safe and smooth flow of traffic. Okinawa, which is an island prefecture that depends on automobiles for land transportation, is also committed to introducing a UTMS adaptable to its road traffic environment. This paper focuses on how to create a safe and efficient road traffic environment in the 21st century Okinawa.