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In Japan, People Do a Weird Thing After a Night of Drinking

 

There's a strange phenomenon that has overtaken the Okinawa prefecture in Japan, and police can't figure out a way to stop it. 

"Road sleeping," or rojo-ne in Japanese, seems to be what people like to do there after a night of drinking, and it means that literally: Intoxicated individuals simply lie down on the sidewalk, along the side of a road, or in the middle of one for a nap, some of them stripping their clothes off before dozing off.

It's an oddity that seems to be primarily found in this southern prefecture.

"I didn't even know the term 'rojo-ne' before coming to Okinawa," the prefecture's police chief tells the Mainichi.

This isn't a rarity, either. Last year, there were more than 7,200 calls to police about people sleeping in the road, with 16 accidents resulting from those incidents. At least three people died. 

Oddly, the coronavirus pandemic doesn't seem to have put a damper on the street snoozing: From January to June, there were about the same number of calls reporting rojo-ne as there were during the same period last year. 

Per the Guardian, cops think the cause may be a combo of residents' love of a boozy local rice-based beverage called awamori and the region's warm weather, which is conducive to outdoor sleeping. 

Warnings on the radio and via a photo exhibit haven't made a big impact, but police are hoping more aggressive crackdowns, including a $470 fine, will help. 

QUESTIONS:
1) What does the Japanese term "rojo-ne" refer to?

2) How come 'road sleeping' is more particularly common in the Okinawa prefecture?

3) In what way has the pandemic influenced the road sleeping problems in the area?

4) Specify the crackdown measure the police is ultimately implementing against such. Do you find the heavy fine likely effective?

5) In your opinion, why didn't the radio warnings and photo exhibits seem to leave any impression? What would be a more effective public awareness campaign? 

VOCABULARY/EXPRESSION:
put a damper on - discourage, dishearten, deter