Tag: Okinawa

Hopefully the military police will not be body slamming civilians this New Year’s while on duty:

U.S. military police plan to resume their own street patrols on Okinawa in time for the New Year’s holiday, a month after a U.S. civilian was body slammed outside a bar, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  U.S. patrols, unaccompanied by local police, may be back in Okinawa’s nightlife districts on the final days of 2025, according to a statement by the U.S.-Japan Joint Committee posted on the ministry’s website Friday.

Stars and Stripes could not verify Saturday that patrols had already begun. USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost ordered the patrols paused and an investigation into the forceful detainment of Kareem El early on Nov. 22 by a U.S. military policeman who lifted El and slammed him to the pavement outside a bar on Gate 2 Street.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The American tourist was a former Marine Captain visiting Okinawa who was out past curfew which the military police had no jurisdiction over. The civilian could have defused the situation by showing his ID as requested, but when he refused the MP should not have body slammed him. I wonder if an assault charge could be filed with the Japanese police?:

Two Okinawa government officials urged caution amid a review of street patrols by U.S. military police in nightlife districts following a viral video of a U.S. civilian’s violent arrest. Two videos totaling four minutes show what appears to be a U.S. military police officer body slamming a man in civilian clothes onto the sidewalk along Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city outside Kadena Air Base early on Nov. 23. A patrol consisting only of U.S. military police stopped the civilian outside a bar in Okinawa city, according to U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Col. John Severns by email Wednesday. The civilian was not connected with the U.S. military, he said.

USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost ordered unilateral patrols by the U.S. military paused while an investigation of the incident takes place, Severns said. In neighboring Chatan town, Mayor Masashi Toguchi told reporters Thursday that “mistaken detentions like this should never happen, and we strongly urge a careful response,” a town spokesman said by phone Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what is even more concerning is that this MP was saying they can detain Japanese civilians if they wanted to. Clearly some retraining needs to happen. You would think simple things like who you can and cannot detain or body slam would have been clearly understood before sending these MPs out on patrol.

I am not sure why servicemembers are struggling to pay rent or buy food when they have not missed a paycheck yet unlike their government civilian counterparts:

Visits to food pantries on U.S. military bases in Japan climbed in October during the federal government shutdown, according to an informal survey by Stars and Stripes. The Neighborhood Pantry at the Marine Corps’ Camps Foster and Kinser on Okinawa saw a steady rise in visits, said Angie Tomlin, the community support coordinator for both locations.

About 160 people visited the pantries in October, up from 146 in September and 122 in August, she said Tuesday at the Foster pantry. “We just hope this doesn’t last too long, because I feel like our island resources are going to run out at some point,” she said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Should schools being helping students to organize protests especially during school time?:

More than 60 high school students staged a walkout here Friday to protest Pentagon policies affecting diversity initiatives, the third such demonstration at a Defense Department school since Feb. 11.

The Kadena High School students — children of airmen and DOD employees — walked out at 10 a.m. for a 15-minute protest in front of the school, principal James Bleeker wrote in a letter emailed to parents that afternoon. Stars and Stripes counted at least 80 students in photos taken from about 250 feet away. Sophomore Elliot Field organized the walkout with support from the DODEA Student Advocacy Core Team, which also backed a Feb. 21 protest at Nile C. Kinnick High School on Yokosuka Naval Base, she said by email Wednesday. She took inspiration from that protest, where about 150 students walked out.

“It’s kind of frightening because I’ve never done anything like this before,” she told Stars and Stripes outside the school before the walkout. “I’ve always sort of been like, if something needs to get done, why not just do it? Something needed to happen.” Field said she coordinated the protest with Bleeker. Miranda Ferguson, a spokeswoman for Department of Defense Education Activity-Pacific, confirmed in an email Friday that the demonstration was organized with school administrators.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but would these same DODEA administrators allow students to organize a MAGA protest, an anti-abortion protest, a border security protest, etc.? Where is line for organized protests during school hours?

It does not look like it is a great time to be on Okinawa right now with the increased scrutiny on military crimes:

Government officials representing Japan and Okinawa repeated pleas to the U.S. military to discipline its population following a fourth sexual assault allegation against a service member on Okinawa in just over a year. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi urged U.S. Forces Japan to “tighten discipline and thoroughly prevent reoccurrences” of criminal incidents involving service members, according to video of a Thursday news conference posted on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s website.

“Generally speaking, crimes and accidents caused by U.S. service members cause strong anxiety to the local community and shouldn’t happen,” Hayashi said. “The important thing is that the series of preventive measures announced by the U.S. side do actually prevent accidents and crimes.” Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Wednesday expressed “strong anger” on social media platform X about the latest case, in which Okinawa police allege a Marine in his 30s injured a woman during a sexual assault in November. That day, Okinawa Prefectural Police forwarded the case to prosecutors for possible charges, according to a police spokesman.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It has been a while since GI crime has been an issue on Okinawa, but the disclosure of these two sexual assault cases has given the island’s left wing government plenty to complain to USFJ about:

The U.S. military has yet to announce new restrictions on troops stationed in Japan despite calls from local authorities after two service members were indicted for alleged sexual crimes on Okinawa. “There is currently no update right now in terms of any changes to liberty policy at the moment,” Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright, spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

Tensions have escalated on Okinawa, where the U.S. military stations approximately 30,000 service members, more than 50% of its troops in Japan, following disclosures in late June of the two indictments by the Naha Public Prosecutors Office. The commanding generals of Okinawa-based III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installations Pacific directed their commanders to “reinforce their expectations of standards and conduct across the force,” III MEF spokesman 1st Lt. Owen Hitchcock said by email Monday.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link, but as I have said before, the expectation of zero crime from US servicemembers is unrealisitic. There is always going to be some crime that happens, what matters is how low is the crime rate and is it being properly prosecuted? I have seen no indications of a high crime rate on Okinawa from US troops and clearly cases are being prosecuted as these latest incidents show.

Can you idiots stop trying to smuggle drugs through the U.S. mail? How many people have to get caught before they realize this has been tried before and doesn’t work?:

A Japanese man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined about $35,000 for leading a ring that smuggled illegal narcotics into Japan through the U.S. military postal system on Okinawa.

Ken Kominami, 30, who is unemployed and has no fixed address, was first arrested in October 2021 after Japanese police were tipped off to a potential drug-smuggling ring by the U.S. military, a spokesman for Okinawa prefectural police’s organized crime department told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Kominami and nine others imported approximately five pounds of cocaine, two liters of cannabis liquid and nearly four ounces of cannabis flower from unnamed individuals in the United States, a spokeswoman from the Naha District Prosecutors Office said by phone Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the arrests included a DA civilian and Marine who were sent to jail for their idiocy.

The U.S. military after World War II controlled Okinawa for 27 years before returning it to Japan 50 years ago this month:

Ceremonies marking the anniversary were held simultaneously in two locations — one in the Okinawan city of Giowan, home to a disputed U.S. air station, and the other in Tokyo. The separate ceremonies symbolize the deep divide in views over Okinawa’s history and ongoing suffering.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he takes Okinawa’s concerns seriously and will make efforts to reduce the burden while still maintaining U.S. military deterrence on the islands.

Kishida and his minister in charge of the islands were in Okinawa, where hundreds of protesters staged a rally Saturday demanding a speedier reduction of U.S. military forces, as fears grow that Okinawa may become a front line of conflict amid rising China tensions. (…..)

Economic, educational and social development in Okinawa lagged behind as Japan enjoyed a postwar economic surge that was helped by lower defense spending because of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa.

The central government’s development fund since the reversion has improved Okinawa’s infrastructure but the growth of local industry that was largely hampered during U.S. rule is still largely limited to tourism.

Today, Okinawa’s average household income is the lowest and its unemployment is the highest of Japan’s 47 prefectures. If land taken by the U.S. military is returned to the prefecture for other use, it would produce three times more income for Okinawa than the island now makes from bases, Tamaki said recently.

Okinawan authorities regularly face denials by the U.S. side in criminal and environmental investigations.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but to claim that Okinawa would have become an economic powerhouse without U.S. troops I find doubtful. This is because none of the other Ryukus or Southwestern Islands in Japan became economic powerhouses and they have never been host to U.S. troops. In my viewpoint if people want to protest something, they should be protesting China’s provocative activities in the area that is driving the large U.S. troop presence on Okinawa and an expanding Japanese military presence on nearby islands.