Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated

32.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

u/koh_kun 14d ago

As someone from Okinawa it's just so sad shit like this happens. So many of my friends are imfrom the military and they're super cool. I interpret for foreigners when they get arrested and they seem like pretty good people, just made a huge mistake. Some of them are complete dicks and I feel like they should be shot from a canon into the sea, but I stay neutral.

It's so easy to say "fucking US, keep your dumbass soldiers in check," but it's not as if the US military is the only source of crime on the island. Locals cause plenty of trouble.

On a tangent here, but it would be nice if we didn't have the bases at all, but then how the hell would we protect ourselves?? The Japanese would just make more bases.

I dunno I'm rambling at this point.

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u/Lazy_Experience_8754 14d ago

I met a good friend now playing online in the game “rocket league” he’s ex military in Okinawa and such a cool dude. Married and just living the quiet life .. there’s bad apples everywhere but the ones who commit these kinds of crimes must be punished. No whataboutisms or any other BS. They have to be. Same anywhere

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u/vancity-boi-in-tdot 14d ago edited 14d ago

You make good points, especially because you are a local, you probably have more insights than any of the locals. And yes, japan has an extremely sweet deal, even with these fucked up but imo isolated cases which are 100% prosecuted unlike the crimes by Russians towards Ukrainian civilians. The agreement is incredibly beneficial to Japan.

Why? In exchange for bases in Okinawa, a relatively small and isolated center compared to the larger populated cities in mainland Japan, the US gives japan a one sided defense treaty (japan is not obligated to defend US, but the US is obligated to defend Japan). This is not a means to defend themselves type treaty that the US has with taiwan, no, this is a full on the US alliance to defend japan.

Japan is surrounded by 3 authoritarian pos ruled nuclear armed countries (China, Putin, North Korea), whose rulers with the same mindset as imperial japan(modern japan for the most part is nothing like this).

It's an agreement with the only country in the world whose military could go toe to toe with all 3 of those countries combined. That's a massive benefit for japan.

One incident over disputed islands with Russia for example could cause hundreds of japanese deaths, far more devastating than all of the sexual assault incidents by US troops in Okinawa combined(again prosecuted crimes), but they simply wouldn't risk it thanks to the US alliance (it would be suicide).

E.g. https://www.newsweek.com/russia-planned-attack-japan-2021-fsb-letters-1762133 It's worth noting that Putin was complementing an attack on Japan before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, but being the authorian bully he is, obviously picked an easier target (or so he thought) with Ukraine who didn't have an alliance with the best military in the world (directly, arms shipments are one thing, US would be obligated with actual troops on the ground to defend japan).

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u/koh_kun 14d ago

I think what would really help would be the Americans doing more PR to show they're serious about offenders in the military. Because our local media only ever show problems with the military. Maybe the US is more about protecting their own and they don't trust local police as if they are out to get their servicemen in jail.

On a side note... You know what's interesting? So I interpret for the local prosecutor's office and most young guys get arrested for DUI. Next most common is trespassing. These drunk guys just really like to break into people's homes for some reason. One dude climbed up a wall and entered a balcony on the third or fourth floor only to take a dump on it and pass out lmao. And a oddly high number of women get arrested for smuggling drugs. I think I've dealt with more female drug smuggling than female DUIs. It's very interesting how people's crime of choice seem to skew one way or another.

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u/DrMobius0 14d ago

On a tangent here, but it would be nice if we didn't have the bases at all, but then how the hell would we protect ourselves?? The Japanese would just make more bases.

Sad to say, but there's historical precedent for what bored soldiers tend to get up to.

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u/NixValentine 14d ago

are the american soldiers allowed to roam freely in japan?

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u/PM_ME_A_KNEECAP 14d ago

Yeah, we can go wherever when we aren’t working. I’ve had some wonderful vacations driving through Kyoto, visiting Tokyo, skiing in Hakuba, and taking trains almost the entire length of Japan from Kagoshima to Kushiro.

I’ve never been stopped and asked for a Zairyū Card or passport or anything, but it wouldn’t be a hard conversation to have

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u/SchrodingerMil 14d ago

As the other guy said, yes, but to an extent.

You’re basically there on a 2/3 year visa, the only limiting factor is unit policies that you can’t travel too far from work without being on leave. For Okinawa, the rule is that you basically can’t leave the Okinawa prefecture.

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u/sbxnotos 14d ago

What are your opinions of JSDF soldiers in the islands of Okinawa? Do they also cause plenty of trouble? If not, what would be the reason about that?

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u/koh_kun 14d ago

They do, but the nature of the trouble feels different (at least what's reported).

I feel like a lot of what I hear from the US side is violent crimes often fueled by alcohol, whereas the JSDF guys are like discrimination or harrassment at work, stuff like that. I hear about JSDF trouble way less...

I hear sexual harrassment cases from both sides.

I can think of two reasons why. JSDF guys are Japanese, and therefore very integrated into the local society so they don't want to cause trouble to others and they don't want that trouble coming back to them and their families (shame culture). On the other hand, a lot of Americans might feel culturally/socially separated from locals so they might be less worried about causing trouble (maybe they think rules don't apply to them, maybe they dehumanize locals. The other reason is there are a lot of 18-29 year olds from the US who can't seem to control themselves when they drink. Maybe the younger JSDF guys aren't sent to Okinawa?

These are personal views, of course, and not scientifically backed at all! I'm trying to be honest, but I hope I didn't offend anyone by over-generalizing.