The car in the article has the steering wheel on the left, which is the wrong side for vehicles driving on the left-hand side of the road. Domestically-produced cars in both the UK and Japan have the steering wheel on the right.
British influence again - apparently through the train network. Despite Commodore Perry and the Portuguese, Britain had significant influence during the Meiji restoration.
(Incidentally, if a country drives on the left then as a general rule of thumb, they also play cricket. I've no idea why this might be the case.)