Like I have always said, with such a large population of servicemembers on Okinawa these incidents are going to keep happening regardless of how many restrictions are put on troops. So the anti-US activists are going to continue to find reasons to bash the US military presence on Okinawa:
A U.S. airman was taken into custody after being pulled over for driving erratically around 4:30 a.m. Monday and then failing a Breathalyzer test, according to a police spokesman in Okinawa City.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Aaron Platte, 27, assigned to Kadena Air Base, was driving in the Chatan area near the Jagaru highway intersection when police spotted a car moving in a zigzag manner, the spokesman said.
Police conducted a Breathalyzer test after smelling alcohol on his breath. They said he denied drinking, then tested just under 0.04 percent blood alcohol content, above Japan’s legal limit of 0.03. [Stars & Stripes]
Hopefully the relationship between Korea and Japan continues to improve where this summit does take place:
President Park Geun-hye plans to travel to Japan for a trilateral meeting with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts, according to Lee Joon-gyu, the nominee for Seoul’s ambassador to Tokyo, Wednesday.
This will be Park’s first trip to Japan since her inauguration in 2013. The visit is expected to spur normalization of the ties between the two countries, according to analysts.
This year, Japan holds the rotating chair of the trilateral talks, expected to take place in November following their foreign ministers’ talks in October, according to Japanese media outlets.
“The trilateral talks between Korea, China and Japan are scheduled to be held in the second half of the year in Japan and President Park’s visit for the meeting is expected to play an important role in bettering bilateral relations,” Lee said in a diplomatic forum.
“Both countries need to take advantage of this visit as an opportunity to advance bilateral ties.” [Korea Times]
This test may not seem like much, but it is actually pretty significant because for the first time Japanese and South Korean naval ships were working together to share radar data as part of a missile defense exercise:
The US military said the drills, called Pacific Dragon, would enhance the “already strong relationship of all three nations participating”.
No missiles were fired, said the US Third Fleet, but each country tested its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and tested communications and data collection.
The Aegis system allows warships to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles while they are still in space, before there is any danger of causing any damage.
North Korea is banned by UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology. [BBC]
Sort of good news for servicemembers stationed in Okinawa:
The period of unity and mourning that was imposed for U.S. forces on Okinawa following the slaying of a 20-year-old woman will end Monday.
Established U.S. Forces Japan liberty policies will continue in effect “with a few modifications,” according to a statement issued Friday by III Marine Expeditionary Force. All celebrations and concerts, including fireworks displays associated with the July 4th holiday, already had been canceled.
Cinderella Liberty went into effect May 27 after a U.S. civilian base worker, Kenneth Franklin Gadson, was arrested in connection with the death of Rina Shimabukuro. He has been charged with illegally disposing of her body, and police have recommended additional charges of murder and rape resulting in death.
“We are part of the Okinawan community, and share in mourning and honoring the victim, her family, and grieve with the people of Okinawa,” the statement said. “On behalf of all U.S. forces, we continue to stand united with the people of Okinawa during this time of mourning. Our prayers, thoughts and condolences are offered to the family, friends and loved ones who lost their family member tragically.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link, but basically servicemembers still have a 12AM-5AM curfew and cannot drink between those times. They also need a battle buddy to go off post with. So it is basically what the rules in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea used to be.
This is yet another example that Okinawa has turned into South Korea circa 2002:
An overflow crowd of some 65,000 people packed a sports stadium Sunday to demand that U.S. forces leave Okinawa and drop a plan to move Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a more remote area on the island.
Similar demonstrations were also scheduled in 41 of Japan’s 47 prefectures. More than 7,000 people gathered outside the Japanese parliament building in Tokyo to join the demand for a U.S. pullout and to bash Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A recent rash of crimes, including the slaying of a 20-year-old woman that has been linked to a U.S. civilian base worker, have tapped into Okinawa resentment over the disproportionate number of U.S. troops here, compared with the rest of Japan, and a sense of abandonment and betrayal by the central government even after it regained control of the island in 1972.
With U.S. servicemembers, family members and others with SOFA status strongly encouraged to avoid the protest area, Gov. Takeshi Onaga called for a total withdrawal of Marines.
“I will never forgive the inhumane and brutal act that trampled women’s human rights. I am indignant,” said Onaga, who won election on an anti-base platform. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that the anti-US base Governor is only calling for an end to the US Marine presence on the island. It would be interesting statistic to see if the Marines really do cause more crime than the other service branches on Okinawa? It has already been shown that the US military overall commits far less crime per capita than the local population, but of course none of this matters to activists looking to use any crime they can to advance their political agenda. It is an impossibility for such a large population of US military servicemembers on Okinawa to be completely crime free which means the activists will continue to find incidents to protest.
The resolution by lawmakers on Okinawa cannot be enforced, but it just shows that they will use any incident to make a political statement against the US military on Okinawa. What I find interesting though is that this statement calls for only the US Marines to withdraw and not any of the other services:
An aerial view of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa lawmakers have unanimously adopted a protest resolution calling for the U.S. Marine Corps to withdraw completely from the island prefecture after a U.S. base worker was arrested in the death of a 20-year-old woman.
Okinawa lawmakers unanimously adopted a protest resolution Thursday calling for the Marine Corps to withdraw completely from the island prefecture after a U.S. base worker was arrested in the death of a 20-year-old woman.
“Such a brutal act by a civilian military employee, who is a former Marine, was absolutely unacceptable,” says the prefectural assembly’s strongly worded declaration. It demands that all Marines leave the island that was returned to Japan from the U.S. post World War II military administration in 1972.
“Pains and sorrow of the family are immeasurable, and a torrent of anger is growing among people of Okinawa,” says the resolution, which was adopted during an emergency meeting by a majority from ruling parties that support anti-base Gov. Takeshi Onaga, while the opposition, including the Liberal Democratic Party, abstained.
The resolution also questions the effectiveness of preventive education by the U.S. military after past crimes by U.S. servicemembers, and demands a drastic reduction in the U.S. military presence on the island, the closure of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and the cancellation of a plan to move Futenma’s operations to Okinawa’s remote north. [Stars & Stripes]
The alcohol ban and lockdown on Okinawa was put into affect after a drunk driving accident involving a US sailor injured two local Okinawans. Now every sailor in Japan is paying the price:
Sailors in Japan are barred until further notice from non-essential, off-base activities and banned from drinking alcohol, Navy officials announced Monday following a recent spate of high-profile arrests of servicemembers and civilians.
The order covers all ranks and bans both on- and off-base alcohol consumption, according to a joint announcement from 7th Fleet and Commander Naval Forces Japan.
“These measures are not taken lightly,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Carter, CNFJ. “For decades, we have enjoyed a strong relationship with the people of Japan. It is imperative that each sailor understand how our actions affect that relationship, and the U.S.-Japan alliance as a whole.”
Sailors living off-base can commute to work and engage in “essential activities,” such as grocery shopping, gym use, child care and gasoline pickup, according to a Navy statement. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but is this going to be the standard every time an incident happens? Lock everyone down and ban alcohol? Unfortunately with such a large population of US servicemembers on Okinawa the expectation that there should be no incidents is unrealistic. Especially when you consider that the actions of non-US servicemembers also gets blamed on the military as well.
This sounds much like how South Korea was during the Roh Moo-hyun administration at the peak of anti-Americanism in that country. Curfews and lockdowns did not stop all incidents, they still happen today they just don’t get the attention they did under the Roh administration. This is because the politics of anti-Americanism in South Korea changed due to the failure of the Sunshine Policy and increasing North Korean provocations. Likewise the anti-Americanism in Okinawa is only going to end with a political change that curfews and lockdowns will not influence.
However, it is the easiest tool in the commander’s tool box to show they are doing something until a political settlement of some kind takes place on Okinawa. In the meantime I don’t expect the curfews and lockdowns to end any time soon.
Considering that the article states this group is practicing “hate speech” it looks like it is probably the Zaitokukai group that has been protesting not only North Korea, but also South Korea’s claims to Dokdo and the comfort women issue:
Riot police try to form a barrier between members of the ultraconservative anti-Korean Zaitokukai organization and a group of counterprotesters in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward in May 2013. | SATOKO KAWASAKI
The Japanese city of Kawasaki, where anti-Korean rallies are often held, has refused to allow an anti-Korean organization from using a park to hold a demonstration.
Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Tuesday that the city government decided not to allow an anti-Korean group to hold a protest on Sunday at a park in the city.
The city government’s decision marks the first such case since Japan legislated the antihate speech law aimed at preventing rallies against a specific race or country of origin.
Kyodo reported that the organization held 13 anti-Korean rallies in the city since 2013.
Kawasaki Mayor Norihiko Fukuda said that it is very regrettable that hate speech rallies have been held around the city, adding that the latest decision was made to ensure the safety of citizens who are targeted by unfair and discriminatory words and acts. [KBS World Radio]
Here is an example of what the Zaitokukai group says during their protests:
But despite their purported political nature, a “significant” number of the demonstrations in reality featured a string of derogatory invective against ethnic minorities, Maeda said.
Prominent examples of vitriolic language favored by the protesters include violent slogans such as “You should all be massacred,” phrases such as “Get the hell out of Japan,” and insults calling Koreans “cockroaches,” according to video analysis of 72 such rallies conducted by the ministry.
In the rallies, participants typically brandish placards and yell epithets while marching on the streets of neighborhoods home to large numbers of ethnic Koreans such as Shin-Okubo in Tokyo and Tsuruhashi in Osaka.
The ministry, meanwhile, attributed a recent drop in the frequency of these rallies to a 2014 Osaka High Court ruling that ordered Zaitokukai to pay about ¥12 million in damages for a series of hateful rallies it organized in front of a Kyoto-based Korean school.
The survey also followed an unprecedented move by the ministry last December to issue an official warning to Zaitokukai to halt its hateful activities. [Japan Times]
You can read more at the link, but that is pretty provocative to march down Shin-Okubo and say stuff like that. Whenever I go to Tokyo I usually find a place to stay in Shin-Okubo because it is a fairly cheap to find a place to stay there with one of the Korean owned hotels.
