Yes, the gear change is on the oposite side to modern Jap bikes. It also operates upside down - 1 up and 3 down.
The bike runs very well, sounds superb when the single cylinder is pushing you along.
They made a few thousand as it was the second most common WD bike during WW2 after the BSA M20.
I understand that the G3L was sought after as it was a much more advanced bike than the girder forked models available at the time.