The majestic steam locomotive never ran on any tracks in Okinawa Prefecture, never carried any passengers, never pulled any freight. But for the past half-century it has been sitting in a park in Naha as a symbol of Okinawa's link to the rest of Japan upon its post-war return to Japanese sovereignty.
The D51 locomotive -- affectionately called "Degoichi" after the pronunciation for D51 -- had been sent from Kitakyushu in 1973, the year after Okinawa was returned to Japanese control, and displayed in Naha's Yogi Park, where it remains to this day.
