Tawau History - Street Name Series : Jalan Nissan Norin, Jalan Kuhara, Jalan Dr Yamamoto and Jalan Kubota

By Kumis Kumis

There are streets called Jalan Nissan Norin (Nissan Norin Street), Jalan Kuhara (Kuhara Street), Jalan Dr Yamamoto (Dr Yamamoto Street) and Jalan Kubota (Kubota Street) at Tawau, Sabah. People may wonder why there is a road named after a Japanese tycoon and a medical Doctor (a well-respected employee of Kuhara Estate). It was actually a tribute to Kuhara Estate (Nissan Norin) and Kubota Estate contributions to the development of Tawau before the second world war.

In 1868, the Japanese Government implement the Meiji Restoration and the Open-Door Policy. Several Japanese Conglomerates and rich individuals invested substantially in Tawau in the mid-1910s due to an economic and rubber boom in Southeast Asia.