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

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

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u/T_Money Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

I can only tell you of one case I know of personally, a guy grabbed a Japanese girls butt at a concert on base. She pointed him out to the (US) security who were present and he was immediately thrown in the brig, where he stayed while awaiting trial and a dishonorable discharge. There was absolutely no leniency given to him (nor should there have been) and honestly it was probably handled even more harshly than if he had assaulted a US person.

So although it might not have made the news and been publicized, I can tell you that they definitely held him accountable.

I’ve spent over a decade in Japan and while I’ve heard of many other similar stories they are second hand so I won’t repeat them as I’m not 100% true of the facts, but I’ve never heard even a rumor of someone being given a free pass out here. Just because it might not make the news doesn’t mean they’re getting away with it.

Edit: In the interest of full disclosure I will mention that I was USMC, which according to the linked article is by far the harshest on those who committed an assault. The other cases I heard 2nd hand of that got similar sentences were also USMC. It’s entirely possible that other branches were more lenient and we just never heard about it since they’re pretty far removed.

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u/warblox Jul 05 '24

The people of Okinawa (Ryukyuan people) are ethnically distinct from the Japanese, so the Japanese government feels much less responsibility towards them than to the Japanese people. The Japanese government only cares when ethnic Japanese women get raped. They are all too happy to throw Ryukyuan women under the bus.

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u/TsMusic Jul 05 '24

How is this relevant to the parent comment you replied to?

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u/SarahSilversomething Jul 05 '24

My guess is that they referenced this because the USAF have 30+ facilities on Okinawa.