TOKYO, Feb. 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Some Japanese Cabinet ministers expressed displeasure Friday at China's announcement on Thursday that downplayed the likelihood of China-made dumplings having been contaminated in China, criticizing the remarks as being counterproductive to joint efforts in investigating the poisoning case in Japan.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura urged that the two sides' investigative authorities "overcome" their differences and continue to cooperate in order to get to the bottom of the case, in hopes of preventing a negative impact on public sentiment and on a historic visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Japan slated for April.
Both Japanese and Chinese authorities have not pinned down how an insecticide made its way into the packages of the dumplings, manufactured in China, which caused 10 people in Japan to fall ill after having eaten them.
"Japanese police and the health ministry are doing their best in investigating the case, and it is sad that (the Chinese) flatly denied it," Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said. "I wonder if it is impossible to have true cooperation on the investigation."
At a separate news conference, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Shinya Izumi said, "The Chinese side's announcement of its opinion all of a sudden at a news conference without providing any specific information and analysis results is not going to solve the problem."
"What should be done in the first place is to find out the truth behind the incident," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said. "I wonder if it was good to make such an announcement at that stage."
Chinese government and police officials said Thursday that, based on their research, it was "highly unlikely" that the dumplings were contaminated in China.
Based on their investigations, Japanese officials have said the insecticide detected in the dumplings was likely to have been added in China, not in Japan.
On Thursday, a Chinese public security official voiced regret that Japanese police refused requests to provide some pieces of evidence gathered in Japan on the case. Japanese police agency chief Hiroto Yoshimura said Japan is ready to provide them if Chinese authorities identify a suspect.
On Friday, Izumi said the Chinese authorities have yet to respond to Japan's request for analysis data on a murder case in Hebei Province in which similar pesticides were believed to have been used.
"We hope that the Chinese side would provide the information we are asking for. Through that, I think we can get to the bottom of this," Izumi said.
Amid concerns that failure to resolve the issue soon would cause public sentiment to further deteriorate on both sides, Foreign Minister Komura said, "I hope the investigative authorities can overcome their differences and cooperate with each other. It is important to find the truth and work on preventing a recurrence."
Asked about the possible impact on Hu's visit, Komura said Japan hopes "to welcome him in a good atmosphere" but also stressed that the scheduling of the trip will not be determined by progress on investigations of the case.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Japan moves to strenghten standing at IWC
Feb 29, 2008
Japan, in a feud with Western nations over whaling, has said it will meet with 12 developing states in a bid to boost its clout in the deadlocked International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The foreign ministry said it will hold a "seminar" on Monday for nations that recently joined or plan to join the IWC, which has long been divided between pro and anti-whaling forces.
Japanese fisheries officials will also take part in the talks aimed at "obtaining understanding for Japan's position on sustainable whaling," a foreign ministry statement said.
Japan, which kills up to 1,000 whales a year, says its whaling is legal and part of its culture, and accuses anti-whaling countries of insensitivity.
Japan has clashed bitterly with the Australian Government who trailed the whalers on their annual expedition in the Antarctic Ocean and has released bloody footage of the whale slaughter.
Environmentalists accuse Japan of buying votes in the IWC by roping in countries that receive Japanese aid and have little tradition of whaling.
The countries to take part in Monday's seminar are Angola, Cambodia, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ghana, Laos, Malawi, Micronesia, Palau, Tanzania and Vanuatu, the foreign ministry said.
Japan has pushed for secret balloting at the 78-member IWC, which in 1986 imposed a global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Japan continues to harpoon whales using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals, with the meat going on Japanese dinner plates.
Tokyo says it want to "normalise" the IWC to return to its original mandate of managing whaling.
Last year, Japan invited all members of the IWC, which then had 72 members, for "normalisation" talks in Tokyo. The final attendance was 37, with major anti-whaling nations such as Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the United States boycotting.
Norway and Iceland are the only nations to conduct outright commercial whaling in defiance of the 1986 moratorium.
In turn, a number of prominent developing nations, including India and South Africa, support Western countries in opposing whaling.
Japan, in a feud with Western nations over whaling, has said it will meet with 12 developing states in a bid to boost its clout in the deadlocked International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The foreign ministry said it will hold a "seminar" on Monday for nations that recently joined or plan to join the IWC, which has long been divided between pro and anti-whaling forces.
Japanese fisheries officials will also take part in the talks aimed at "obtaining understanding for Japan's position on sustainable whaling," a foreign ministry statement said.
Japan, which kills up to 1,000 whales a year, says its whaling is legal and part of its culture, and accuses anti-whaling countries of insensitivity.
Japan has clashed bitterly with the Australian Government who trailed the whalers on their annual expedition in the Antarctic Ocean and has released bloody footage of the whale slaughter.
Environmentalists accuse Japan of buying votes in the IWC by roping in countries that receive Japanese aid and have little tradition of whaling.
The countries to take part in Monday's seminar are Angola, Cambodia, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ghana, Laos, Malawi, Micronesia, Palau, Tanzania and Vanuatu, the foreign ministry said.
Japan has pushed for secret balloting at the 78-member IWC, which in 1986 imposed a global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Japan continues to harpoon whales using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals, with the meat going on Japanese dinner plates.
Tokyo says it want to "normalise" the IWC to return to its original mandate of managing whaling.
Last year, Japan invited all members of the IWC, which then had 72 members, for "normalisation" talks in Tokyo. The final attendance was 37, with major anti-whaling nations such as Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the United States boycotting.
Norway and Iceland are the only nations to conduct outright commercial whaling in defiance of the 1986 moratorium.
In turn, a number of prominent developing nations, including India and South Africa, support Western countries in opposing whaling.
Japan invites developing nations for whaling meeting
Feb 29, 2008
OKYO (AFP) - Japan, in a feud with Western nations over whaling, said Friday it will meet with 12 developing states in a bid to boost its clout in the deadlocked International Whaling Commission.
The foreign ministry said it will hold a "seminar" on Monday for nations that recently joined or plan to join the IWC, which has long been divided between pro- and anti-whaling forces.
Japanese fisheries officials will also take part in the talks aimed at "obtaining understanding for Japan's position on sustainable whaling," a foreign ministry statement said.
Japan, which kills up to 1,000 whales a year, says its whaling is legal and part of its culture, and accuses anti-whaling countries of insensitivity.
Japan has clashed bitterly with Australia, whose coast guard is trailing the whalers on their annual expedition in the Antarctic Ocean and has released bloody footage of the whale slaughter.
Environmentalists accuse Japan of buying votes in the IWC by roping in countries that receive Japanese aid and have little tradition of whaling.
The countries to take part in Monday's seminar are Angola, Cambodia, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ghana, Laos, Malawi, Micronesia, Palau, Tanzania and Vanuatu, the foreign ministry said.
Japan has pushed for secret balloting at the 78-member IWC, which in 1986 imposed a global moratorium on commercial whaling.
Japan continues to harpoon whales using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals, with the meat going on Japanese dinner plates.
Tokyo says it want to "normalise" the IWC to return to its original mandate of managing whaling.
Last year, Japan invited all members of the IWC, which then had 72 members, for "normalisation" talks in Tokyo. The final attendance was 37, with major anti-whaling nations such as Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the United States boycotting.
Norway and Iceland are the only nations to conduct outright commercial whaling in defiance of the 1986 moratorium.
In turn, a number of prominent developing nations, including India and South Africa, support Western countries in opposing whaling.
Monday, February 25, 2008
No bail for Japanese businessman
Saipan Tribune
Feb 26, 2008
No bail for Japanese businessman
AGO files a fugitive from justice charge
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
The Superior Court yesterday set no bail for Kazuyoshi Miura, a 60-year-old Japanese businessman who was arrested Friday at the Saipan international airport for the murder of his wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago.
Miura was brought to the Superior Court yesterday after the Attorney General's Office filed an information charging Miura with one count of fugitive from justice.
Associate Judge David A. Wiseman set the preliminary hearing for March 5 at 9am and the arraignment for March 10 at 9am.
Wiseman ordered Miura to proceed to the Adult Probation Office to determine whether he is eligible to have a court-appointed counsel.
The judge remanded the defendant back to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
Earlier at the hearing, Wiseman directed Miura to hire his own lawyer after the defendant claimed that his current wife runs a clothing business and that she earns $30,000 a month.
When the judge asked the wife, Yoshie, about her $30,000 monthly income, she explained that the amount's value is different in Japan than on Saipan.
Wiseman decided to order the defendant to instead go to the Probation Office, which will determine if he is eligible to get a court-appointed lawyer.
Wiseman said he will set no bail at this time, considering that Miura is facing charges of fugitive from justice in connection with charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder that were filed in California.
At the hearing, chief public defender Adam Hardwicke argued that the arrest was unlawful, citing the absence of an arrest warrant and that the extradition procedures were not being followed, among other things.
But Wiseman only thanked Hardwicke for raising the issue and told him that yesterday was a bail hearing and not a preliminary hearing where that issue might be brought up.
Edward R. Cabrera of the Attorney Generals' Investigative Unit stated in court documents that Immigration agents detained Miura Friday at 2pm as he attempted to depart the CNMI.
In an affidavit supporting Miura's arrest, Cabrera said that agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency contacted him about the defendant's case in October 2007.
Cabrera said that ICE agents were told by Los Angeles Police's Cold Case Unit that Miura would probably be traveling to Saipan in November 2007.
The AGIU officer said an LA detective also asked for CNMI assistance in arresting Miura if he ever comes to Saipan.
The detective then provided AGIU with a copy of the felony complaint as well as a printout from the National Criminal Information Center alleging that Miura was charged with criminal activity in California.
After receiving the information, Cabrera said, he placed an alert in the CNMI Border Management System so that he will be notified if the defendant arrives or attempts to depart from the Commonwealth.
Cabrera said that when he informed LA Police about Miura's arrest, he was told that they are willing to extradite the defendant to California.
Miura had already been convicted in Japan in 1994 of the murder of his wife, Kazumi Miura. The verdict, however, was overturned by Japan's high courts 10 years ago.
Miura and his wife (Kazumi) were visiting Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 1981, when they were shot in a parking lot. Miura was reportedly hit in the right leg, while his 28-year-old wife was shot in the head. She later died.
Miura reportedly collected about $1.4 million at today's exchange rate on life insurance policies he had taken out on his wife.
A New York Times report said that Japanese consular officials on Sunday interviewed Miura at his cell inside the Department of Corrections in Susupe.
''He seemed in good health, and was receiving a fair treatment,'' said Kenji Yoshida, one of the two Japanese consuls in Saipan.
''We talked about an hour, but not so much about his past crimes,'' Yoshida said. ''Naturally, he expressed hopes to see his family, and was very anxious to know what may happen to him.''
The 1981 shooting caused an international uproar, in part because Miura blamed the attack on robbers, reinforcing Japanese perceptions of America as violent.
''I think U.S. investigators have all along believed that they can make the case with the evidence they had already collected,'' Tsutomu Sakaguchi, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police investigator at the time of the shooting, told TV Asahi in an interview Sunday. ''If they have a new evidence, that could be a decisive step.''
The victim's mother said Sunday that she never gave up hope that the case would be resolved.
''I burned incense for my daughter and prayed at a family Buddhist altar, telling her that Americans will put an end to the case, so let's hold onto our hopes and wait,'' Yasuko Sasaki told Japan's public broadcaster NHK. (With NYT)
Miura can't understand arrest by U.S. police after his acquittal in Japan
February 24, 2008
SAIPAN — Kazuyoshi Miura, a Japanese businessman who has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago, expressed his dismay at his unexpected detention Saturday in Saipan when he met a Japanese Consulate official Sunday, the diplomat said.
While the Los Angeles Police Department is preparing to transfer Miura to California soon, Miura plans to announce on Monday morning through his lawyer what action he plans to take, Japanese Consul in Saipan Kenji Yazawa said.
"I don't understand why I had to be arrested when my acquittal has been finalized in Japan," Miura was quoted by Yazawa as telling him when they met at a U.S. detention facility.
In 2003, the Japanese Supreme Court acquitted Miura of the fatal shooting of his wife Kazumi in Los Angeles in 1981.
According to Yazawa, Miura seemed to be baffled by his detention, saying, "I have been to Saipan before. Why now?...I want to see my family no matter what happens."
Meanwhile, the LAPD is making arrangements to transfer Miura to Los Angeles from Saipan, a commonwealth territory of the United States, sources with U.S. authorities said.
Miura was taken into custody Friday at Saipan airport when he showed his passport at immigration prior to leaving for Narita airport near Tokyo.
It remains to be seen whether U.S. authorities put Miura on trial, but according to Japanese investigative authorities in Tokyo, U.S. investigators told them the arrest was made on the basis of "fresh evidence."
Miura was at the center of heavy media coverage throughout the 1980s after Kazumi was shot in the head in November 1981 and died about a year later. Miura himself also sustained serious injuries when Kazumi was shot.
In 1985, Japanese police arrested Miura, along with a former actress, on suspicion of attempted murder for insurance money in connection with an earlier assault on his wife in August of 1981.
In 1988, Miura and another man were arrested over her death in the November incident.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Miura in 1994 to life in prison for murder, ruling that the actual perpetrator of the shooting was a third unidentified person.
But the Tokyo High Court acquitted him of murder four years later, saying no light was shed in court about his alleged conspiracy with an accomplice as well as about the perpetrator of the shooting. That high court decision was allowed to stand by the Supreme Court in 2003.
In 1998, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against a sentence of six years in prison imposed for attempted murder in the earlier assault case. Miura was released in January 2001.
While he was fighting his cases in court, he lodged several hundred libel suits seeking damages from newspaper publishers, news agencies, TV broadcasters and magazine publishers. He won many of those suits.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
SAIPAN — Kazuyoshi Miura, a Japanese businessman who has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago, expressed his dismay at his unexpected detention Saturday in Saipan when he met a Japanese Consulate official Sunday, the diplomat said.
While the Los Angeles Police Department is preparing to transfer Miura to California soon, Miura plans to announce on Monday morning through his lawyer what action he plans to take, Japanese Consul in Saipan Kenji Yazawa said.
"I don't understand why I had to be arrested when my acquittal has been finalized in Japan," Miura was quoted by Yazawa as telling him when they met at a U.S. detention facility.
In 2003, the Japanese Supreme Court acquitted Miura of the fatal shooting of his wife Kazumi in Los Angeles in 1981.
According to Yazawa, Miura seemed to be baffled by his detention, saying, "I have been to Saipan before. Why now?...I want to see my family no matter what happens."
Meanwhile, the LAPD is making arrangements to transfer Miura to Los Angeles from Saipan, a commonwealth territory of the United States, sources with U.S. authorities said.
Miura was taken into custody Friday at Saipan airport when he showed his passport at immigration prior to leaving for Narita airport near Tokyo.
It remains to be seen whether U.S. authorities put Miura on trial, but according to Japanese investigative authorities in Tokyo, U.S. investigators told them the arrest was made on the basis of "fresh evidence."
Miura was at the center of heavy media coverage throughout the 1980s after Kazumi was shot in the head in November 1981 and died about a year later. Miura himself also sustained serious injuries when Kazumi was shot.
In 1985, Japanese police arrested Miura, along with a former actress, on suspicion of attempted murder for insurance money in connection with an earlier assault on his wife in August of 1981.
In 1988, Miura and another man were arrested over her death in the November incident.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Miura in 1994 to life in prison for murder, ruling that the actual perpetrator of the shooting was a third unidentified person.
But the Tokyo High Court acquitted him of murder four years later, saying no light was shed in court about his alleged conspiracy with an accomplice as well as about the perpetrator of the shooting. That high court decision was allowed to stand by the Supreme Court in 2003.
In 1998, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against a sentence of six years in prison imposed for attempted murder in the earlier assault case. Miura was released in January 2001.
While he was fighting his cases in court, he lodged several hundred libel suits seeking damages from newspaper publishers, news agencies, TV broadcasters and magazine publishers. He won many of those suits.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Komura dismisses call for reviewing accord on U.S. forces
Kyodo News
Feb 15, 2008
TOKYO — Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on Friday dismissed calls for a fundamental review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement in the wake of an alleged rape by a U.S. Marine, saying it would be difficult for Japan to press further due to "global standards."
Noting that the United States has similar agreements with South Korea and other countries where its forces are stationed, Komura said, "And it is only in Japan that there is an operational arrangement where the U.S. military will hand over a suspect even prior to indictment in the case of heinous crimes.
So from the U.S. point of view, Japan is already one rank above the global standard. The latest incident was an awful one, but can Japan diplomatically demand more revisions because of this?"
Feb 15, 2008
TOKYO — Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on Friday dismissed calls for a fundamental review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement in the wake of an alleged rape by a U.S. Marine, saying it would be difficult for Japan to press further due to "global standards."
Noting that the United States has similar agreements with South Korea and other countries where its forces are stationed, Komura said, "And it is only in Japan that there is an operational arrangement where the U.S. military will hand over a suspect even prior to indictment in the case of heinous crimes.
So from the U.S. point of view, Japan is already one rank above the global standard. The latest incident was an awful one, but can Japan diplomatically demand more revisions because of this?"
U.S. military charges 4 Marines with gang raping woman
Kyodo News
Feb 15, 2008
HIROSHIMA — Four U.S. Marines have been charged with gang raping a Japanese woman last October in violation of the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture said Thursday.
While the U.S. military is in the process of deciding whether to court martial the four, who belong to the Iwakuni station, Japanese prosecutors dropped gang-rape charges against them in November.
The Iwakuni station said the U.S. military pressed charges against the four men in December for sexually assaulting the woman, stealing cash from her and disobeying orders.
The 20-year-old woman told a preliminary hearing at the Iwakuni station on Thursday that she had been raped by the four men, aged between 20 and 39.
The hearing is being held to determine whether the four will be tried by court martial. It will continue Friday.
The woman said that although she had agreed to have sex with one of the four, the other three joined in and she was raped by all four men.
Asked why she did not tell the police about consenting to sex with one of the four, she said, "I was ashamed of behaving so rashly."
The woman said that after the four men gang raped her, they threw her bag, shoes and other belongings away and stole almost all of the 12,000 yen she had in her wallet.
Earlier, Hiroshima prefectural police investigated the case on suspicion that the four forced the woman into a car, raped her and stole cash from her purse in the city of Hiroshima in the early hours of Oct 14.
But the police did not arrest the four because of some inconsistencies in the case. Instead they decided to send their investigative reports to prosecutors in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In November, the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to indict them.
Feb 15, 2008
HIROSHIMA — Four U.S. Marines have been charged with gang raping a Japanese woman last October in violation of the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture said Thursday.
While the U.S. military is in the process of deciding whether to court martial the four, who belong to the Iwakuni station, Japanese prosecutors dropped gang-rape charges against them in November.
The Iwakuni station said the U.S. military pressed charges against the four men in December for sexually assaulting the woman, stealing cash from her and disobeying orders.
The 20-year-old woman told a preliminary hearing at the Iwakuni station on Thursday that she had been raped by the four men, aged between 20 and 39.
The hearing is being held to determine whether the four will be tried by court martial. It will continue Friday.
The woman said that although she had agreed to have sex with one of the four, the other three joined in and she was raped by all four men.
Asked why she did not tell the police about consenting to sex with one of the four, she said, "I was ashamed of behaving so rashly."
The woman said that after the four men gang raped her, they threw her bag, shoes and other belongings away and stole almost all of the 12,000 yen she had in her wallet.
Earlier, Hiroshima prefectural police investigated the case on suspicion that the four forced the woman into a car, raped her and stole cash from her purse in the city of Hiroshima in the early hours of Oct 14.
But the police did not arrest the four because of some inconsistencies in the case. Instead they decided to send their investigative reports to prosecutors in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In November, the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to indict them.
Gov't to compile its own measures to prevent U.S. military crimes
Kyodo News
Feb 16, 2008
TOKYO — Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura indicated Friday the government will compile measures possibly next week to prevent crimes by U.S. military personnel following the alleged rape of a junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture.
Speaking to reporters and at a parliamentary committee session, Komura also said he intends to ask the United States to keep tighter control over its soldiers living off base.
"Preventing a recurrence of the crime should primarily be a matter of how the U.S. military shapes itself up. But as various ideas have been presented at the Diet, we will consider prevention measures without ruling them out," Komura told reporters.
The proposals floated so far include installing surveillance cameras in entertainment districts near U.S. military bases.
Komura indicated a flexible approach would be necessary where surveillance cameras are concerned, saying, "There are some local authorities that want to do that, while there are others that do not. We cannot force them."
He told a House of Representatives Budget Committee session earlier in the day that the government intends to demand that the U.S. military exercise stricter supervision over its soldiers living off base, using occasions such as the joint committee of foreign and defense officials to do so.
The U.S. military has taken measures to prevent incidents involving servicemen such as imposing curfews on those living on base. But Tyrone Hadnott, a Marine staff sergeant who allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa, lived outside Camp Courtney, where he was stationed.
However, Komura denied that the government will try to revise the Status of Forces Agreement to limit U.S. soldiers from living off base, telling the parliamentary committee, "It is impossible to stipulate in the SOFA that soldiers can only live on base." The agreement governs the operations of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
Komura also said the Japanese government is willing to work closely with a task force that the U.S. military has set up to deal with the allegation.
Meanwhile, Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, branded the government's position of ruling out any SOFA revision to deal with U.S. soldiers' crimes as "timid."
"When speaking of the Japan-U.S. alliance, both countries should stand on an equal footing. From that viewpoint, we must amend the SOFA expeditiously," Hatoyama told a press conference at DPJ headquarters.
In Okinawa, the Okinawa Bar Association released a statement the same day demanding that both the Japanese and U.S. governments take drastic measures to make sure serious crimes by U.S. soldiers will never happen again, such as integrating and reducing the number of U.S. bases in Japan.
Feb 16, 2008
TOKYO — Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura indicated Friday the government will compile measures possibly next week to prevent crimes by U.S. military personnel following the alleged rape of a junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture.
Speaking to reporters and at a parliamentary committee session, Komura also said he intends to ask the United States to keep tighter control over its soldiers living off base.
"Preventing a recurrence of the crime should primarily be a matter of how the U.S. military shapes itself up. But as various ideas have been presented at the Diet, we will consider prevention measures without ruling them out," Komura told reporters.
The proposals floated so far include installing surveillance cameras in entertainment districts near U.S. military bases.
Komura indicated a flexible approach would be necessary where surveillance cameras are concerned, saying, "There are some local authorities that want to do that, while there are others that do not. We cannot force them."
He told a House of Representatives Budget Committee session earlier in the day that the government intends to demand that the U.S. military exercise stricter supervision over its soldiers living off base, using occasions such as the joint committee of foreign and defense officials to do so.
The U.S. military has taken measures to prevent incidents involving servicemen such as imposing curfews on those living on base. But Tyrone Hadnott, a Marine staff sergeant who allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa, lived outside Camp Courtney, where he was stationed.
However, Komura denied that the government will try to revise the Status of Forces Agreement to limit U.S. soldiers from living off base, telling the parliamentary committee, "It is impossible to stipulate in the SOFA that soldiers can only live on base." The agreement governs the operations of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
Komura also said the Japanese government is willing to work closely with a task force that the U.S. military has set up to deal with the allegation.
Meanwhile, Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, branded the government's position of ruling out any SOFA revision to deal with U.S. soldiers' crimes as "timid."
"When speaking of the Japan-U.S. alliance, both countries should stand on an equal footing. From that viewpoint, we must amend the SOFA expeditiously," Hatoyama told a press conference at DPJ headquarters.
In Okinawa, the Okinawa Bar Association released a statement the same day demanding that both the Japanese and U.S. governments take drastic measures to make sure serious crimes by U.S. soldiers will never happen again, such as integrating and reducing the number of U.S. bases in Japan.
Gov't to lift subsidy freeze on Iwakuni
Kyodo News
Feb 15, 2008
TOKYO — Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told new Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda on Thursday that the government plans to lift its freeze on a subsidy to the city in Yamaguchi Prefecture now that a new mayor who basically supports the plan to relocate U.S. military aircraft there has been elected, Fukuda said.
During their meeting, Ishiba said, "The government will make all-out efforts to deal with the matter," referring to the plan to disburse a 3.5 billion yen subsidy for fiscal 2007 through March 31 to the city to help construct a city hall building, according to Fukuda.
Feb 15, 2008
TOKYO — Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told new Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda on Thursday that the government plans to lift its freeze on a subsidy to the city in Yamaguchi Prefecture now that a new mayor who basically supports the plan to relocate U.S. military aircraft there has been elected, Fukuda said.
During their meeting, Ishiba said, "The government will make all-out efforts to deal with the matter," referring to the plan to disburse a 3.5 billion yen subsidy for fiscal 2007 through March 31 to the city to help construct a city hall building, according to Fukuda.
Japanese officials may accompany U.S. soldiers on Hokkaido outings
Kyodo News
Feb 16, 2008
SAPPORO — The Defense Ministry's Hokkaido bureau is considering assigning officials to accompany U.S. servicemen during off-duty outings when they visit the prefecture for a drill later this month, in light of the recent alleged rape of a local girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture, a senior bureau official said Friday.
A four-day drill will be held Feb 25 to 28 at the Air Self-Defense Force's Chitose base in the southwestern Hokkaido city of Chitose, according to Tomohiko Futamata, head of the planning department at the Hokkaido Defense Bureau.
"We're considering regular patrols of the area when U.S. soldiers go out and in certain circumstances having bureau employees accompany them," Futamata told reporters after notifying local municipalities of the drill in a liaison meeting.
"We take seriously the unforgivable incident in Okinawa and will strongly request that U.S. soldiers maintain strict discipline," Futamata said in the meeting.
Chitose Mayor Kotaro Yamaguchi said at a press conference later, "I strongly requested maintenance of discipline so that an incident like that one in Okinawa will not happen by any chance."
Chitose Air Base is one of six ASDF bases to which some U.S. fighter jet exercises have been transferred under a 2006 bilateral agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and the only one that has yet to host such a drill.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that the transfer "has great significant in reducing Okinawa's burden" of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan.
Around four FA-18 fighters from the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture and more than 10 soldiers will take part in the upcoming drill, the bureau said.
Feb 16, 2008
SAPPORO — The Defense Ministry's Hokkaido bureau is considering assigning officials to accompany U.S. servicemen during off-duty outings when they visit the prefecture for a drill later this month, in light of the recent alleged rape of a local girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture, a senior bureau official said Friday.
A four-day drill will be held Feb 25 to 28 at the Air Self-Defense Force's Chitose base in the southwestern Hokkaido city of Chitose, according to Tomohiko Futamata, head of the planning department at the Hokkaido Defense Bureau.
"We're considering regular patrols of the area when U.S. soldiers go out and in certain circumstances having bureau employees accompany them," Futamata told reporters after notifying local municipalities of the drill in a liaison meeting.
"We take seriously the unforgivable incident in Okinawa and will strongly request that U.S. soldiers maintain strict discipline," Futamata said in the meeting.
Chitose Mayor Kotaro Yamaguchi said at a press conference later, "I strongly requested maintenance of discipline so that an incident like that one in Okinawa will not happen by any chance."
Chitose Air Base is one of six ASDF bases to which some U.S. fighter jet exercises have been transferred under a 2006 bilateral agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and the only one that has yet to host such a drill.
Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that the transfer "has great significant in reducing Okinawa's burden" of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan.
Around four FA-18 fighters from the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture and more than 10 soldiers will take part in the upcoming drill, the bureau said.
Okinawa to survey U.S. service personnel living outside bases
Kyodo News
Feb 16, 2008
NAHA — The Okinawa prefectural government plans to begin next week surveying the number and circumstances of U.S. service personnel living outside local military bases in the wake of the arrest of a U.S. Marine on suspicion of raping a teenage girl, prefectural officials said Saturday.
Concern among local people has risen as U.S. personnel living off base are believed not to be under restrictions on going out and other activities, unlike those living within military facilities.
The U.S. military has taken measures to prevent incidents involving servicemen living on base such as imposing curfews.
The central government plans to ask the U.S. side to tighten control over service personnel living off base.
Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima envisions making the number and circumstances of off-base U.S. service personnel a major survey topic of a prefectural government task force to be set up early next week, the officials said.
U.S. military authorities have told the prefectural government that some 6,000 off-base housing units were registered for use by people related to the military as of last September, of which 5,000 were actually in contract, they said.
Many U.S. bases have apartments for officers and rank-and-file service personnel, as well as restaurants, movie theaters and other leisure and sports facilities.
U.S. military authorities have not made public the conditions for allowing members to live off base, the officials said.
A source from the prefectural government said the conditions apparently concern the rank of the personnel and whether they have family.
Feb 16, 2008
NAHA — The Okinawa prefectural government plans to begin next week surveying the number and circumstances of U.S. service personnel living outside local military bases in the wake of the arrest of a U.S. Marine on suspicion of raping a teenage girl, prefectural officials said Saturday.
Concern among local people has risen as U.S. personnel living off base are believed not to be under restrictions on going out and other activities, unlike those living within military facilities.
The U.S. military has taken measures to prevent incidents involving servicemen living on base such as imposing curfews.
The central government plans to ask the U.S. side to tighten control over service personnel living off base.
Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima envisions making the number and circumstances of off-base U.S. service personnel a major survey topic of a prefectural government task force to be set up early next week, the officials said.
U.S. military authorities have told the prefectural government that some 6,000 off-base housing units were registered for use by people related to the military as of last September, of which 5,000 were actually in contract, they said.
Many U.S. bases have apartments for officers and rank-and-file service personnel, as well as restaurants, movie theaters and other leisure and sports facilities.
U.S. military authorities have not made public the conditions for allowing members to live off base, the officials said.
A source from the prefectural government said the conditions apparently concern the rank of the personnel and whether they have family.
Ex-Nova teachers angry over firing by new firm
The Yomiuri Shimbun
About 20 foreign instructors who had worked for Nova Corp. lodged a complaint with labor authorities about their new employer Friday, claiming it had violated the Labor Standards Law by unjustly terminating their contracts.
The instructors claimed to the Osaka Chuo Labor Standards Inspection Office that Nagoya-based G.education Co. failed to clarify its criteria when it refused to renew the contracts.
Meanwhile, G.education stated the termination stemmed from expiration of the contracts, and said it not see the dismissals as unfair.
According to the firm, when it hired the instructors, it took over their contracts with Nova. The firm said it did not renew the contracts of about 60 instructors that began expiring in January on the grounds they did not work enough days to meet the contract renewal standard, or that they refused to be transferred, and the firm could not secure classrooms for them.
(Feb. 16, 2008)
About 20 foreign instructors who had worked for Nova Corp. lodged a complaint with labor authorities about their new employer Friday, claiming it had violated the Labor Standards Law by unjustly terminating their contracts.
The instructors claimed to the Osaka Chuo Labor Standards Inspection Office that Nagoya-based G.education Co. failed to clarify its criteria when it refused to renew the contracts.
Meanwhile, G.education stated the termination stemmed from expiration of the contracts, and said it not see the dismissals as unfair.
According to the firm, when it hired the instructors, it took over their contracts with Nova. The firm said it did not renew the contracts of about 60 instructors that began expiring in January on the grounds they did not work enough days to meet the contract renewal standard, or that they refused to be transferred, and the firm could not secure classrooms for them.
(Feb. 16, 2008)
Japan mulls peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan: report
Feb 16, 2008
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's government is considering sending peacekeeping troops to southern Sudan to help implement a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of war, a report said Saturday.
But the possible mission would not join the UN-African Union force operating separately to stop the bloodshed in Darfur in the west, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said without naming sources.
Japanese troops would be part of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which is coordinating UN activities in the country, for the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 21-year civil war, it said.
Their tasks would include humanitarian assistance, protection of human rights and could also involve tasks such as removing landmines, the report said. It did not mention the size of the possible Japanese mission.
The United Nations says the war killed more than two million people, uprooted four million and made 600,000 flee the country.
The Yomiuri said Tokyo was looking to raise its profile in international security as it prepares to host a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations in July.
Japan is the only G8 country that does not contribute troops to the UNMIS.
The government was unavailable for comment on the report Saturday.
The Yomiuri said the government has judged it could send troops to Sudan under the nation's peacekeeping law, given that an accord has already been signed there.
In 2003 then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi took the landmark step of sending troops to Iraq under a special law, the first time since World War II that Japan has deployed troops to a country where fighting was under way.
Koizumi withdrew the 600-strong troops before leaving office in 2006 but maintained the Kuwait-based air mission, which flies goods and supplies into the war-torn country.
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's government is considering sending peacekeeping troops to southern Sudan to help implement a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of war, a report said Saturday.
But the possible mission would not join the UN-African Union force operating separately to stop the bloodshed in Darfur in the west, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said without naming sources.
Japanese troops would be part of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which is coordinating UN activities in the country, for the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 21-year civil war, it said.
Their tasks would include humanitarian assistance, protection of human rights and could also involve tasks such as removing landmines, the report said. It did not mention the size of the possible Japanese mission.
The United Nations says the war killed more than two million people, uprooted four million and made 600,000 flee the country.
The Yomiuri said Tokyo was looking to raise its profile in international security as it prepares to host a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations in July.
Japan is the only G8 country that does not contribute troops to the UNMIS.
The government was unavailable for comment on the report Saturday.
The Yomiuri said the government has judged it could send troops to Sudan under the nation's peacekeeping law, given that an accord has already been signed there.
In 2003 then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi took the landmark step of sending troops to Iraq under a special law, the first time since World War II that Japan has deployed troops to a country where fighting was under way.
Koizumi withdrew the 600-strong troops before leaving office in 2006 but maintained the Kuwait-based air mission, which flies goods and supplies into the war-torn country.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Anti-whalers set to resume hounding Japanese fleet
Feb 14, 2008
SYDNEY (AFP) - A ship carrying militant anti-whaling activists was due to head back to Antarctic waters Thursday to resume harassing Japanese whalers, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said.
The group's ship the Steve Irwin has been in port in Melbourne, Australia for 12 days to refuel and take on supplies after weeks of pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
"A special thank you to Australia," the group's leader Paul Watson said in a message posted on Sea Shepherd's website. "You helped to send the Steve Irwin back to sea as a ValentineÂ’s Day gift to the whales."
Donations of cash, food and supplies had "flooded onto the decks of the whale conservation ship" while it was in port, the statement said, adding that it was due to leave for Antarctic waters on Thursday night.
The Steve Irwin intends to "harass and intervene" against the whalers for the next four to five weeks in an effort to prevent them hunting until the end of the season.
"In January we prevented them from slaughtering whales for three weeks, we cost the Japanese over two million dollars in fuel during the pursuit and we exposed their illegal whaling activities worldwide, and most importantly we got the story into the Japanese media," said Watson.
"This provoked a real debate in Japan on the cost of whaling to JapanÂ’s reputation."
On January 15, two activists from the Steve Irwin boarded a Japanese harpoon ship to deliver a protest note, setting off a two-day stand-off before they were released to an Australian customs vessel.
An international moratorium bans the slaughter of whales for commercial purposes but Japan exploits a loophole which allows the animals to be killed for scientific research and targeted 1,000 this season.
Watson said that next year Sea Shepherd intends to return to the Southern Ocean with a second ship "with the objective of mounting a non-stop pursuit."
The environmental group Greenpeace had also hounded the Japanese whalers but abandoned the chase for the season after running low on fuel in late January.
The environmental group Greenpeace had also hounded the Japanese whalers but abandoned the chase for the season after running low on fuel in late January.
Japan's Okinawa demands US rein in troops after alleged rape
AFP
Feb 14, 2008
NAHA, Japan (AFP) — Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Thursday demanded the US military rein in the thousands of troops stationed there after an American Marine was arrested for allegedly raping a local girl.
The Okinawa assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging the US military to improve ethical training for its forces after the alleged rape of the 14-year-old on Sunday.
"Okinawa prefecture has repeatedly demanded stricter discipline for US servicemen and action to prevent criminal offences, but still an incident like this happened. We feel fierce anger," said assembly member Seiichi Oyakawa, reading out the resolution.
"We demand the US government take effective and specific preventive actions that are clear to the eyes of the people of Okinawa, such as carrying out thorough human rights training for US soldiers," he said.
More than 40,000 US troops are stationed in Japan to defend its key Asian ally, which has been officially pacifist since World War II.
US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer flew Wednesday to Okinawa to express sorrow over the incident and promise to review ethical training for troops.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who met with Schieffer, on Thursday held talks in Tokyo with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who met with Schieffer, on Thursday held talks in Tokyo with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
"I told him that the pent-up rage of Okinawan people is flaring up in an extremely tense way," Nakaima told reporters after meeting with Fukuda.
Fukuda said separately that the central government "must work with the people of Okinawa to do something about this."
Fukuda said separately that the central government "must work with the people of Okinawa to do something about this."
Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, was arrested on Monday over allegations that he raped the girl in his car on the island. He has admitted trying to forcibly kiss her and groping her but denied raping her.
The incident rekindled memories of the gang-rape in 1995 of a 12-year-old girl by three US soldiers, which set off major protests on the island and set in motion a process to reduce the number of US troops there.
The Okinawa assembly's resolution also renewed the local government's call for a reduction in the more than 20,000 US troops stationed on the island.
But opposition assembly members demanded that Nakaima, a government ally, seek tougher action, noting that the US government has promised tighter discipline before.
But opposition assembly members demanded that Nakaima, a government ally, seek tougher action, noting that the US government has promised tighter discipline before.
The Okinawa police have reported to an assembly committee that 14 rapes allegedly by US soldiers have occurred in the tiny province since 1995.
"He has not shown enough anger," opposition assembly member Chosei Taira told AFP.
"He has not shown enough anger," opposition assembly member Chosei Taira told AFP.
"We have adopted resolutions of protest over and over again, but they hardly have made any changes," Taira said.
"We demand the entire withdrawal of the US military. Unless all Marines go, we wouldn't be rid of incidents like this no matter how many times we protest."
Nakaima was elected in 2006 promising to improve the island's troubled economy and signalling a more conciliatory policy towards the US military and its global realignment plan.
Nakaima was elected in 2006 promising to improve the island's troubled economy and signalling a more conciliatory policy towards the US military and its global realignment plan.
However, he suggested Thursday that the alleged rape could have a wider impact.
"I am gravely concerned that this can have a ripple effect over the base issue," he said.
"I am gravely concerned that this can have a ripple effect over the base issue," he said.
Another assemblyman, Tetsuji Shingaki, a member of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party, defended the governor, saying crime by US soldiers is a common problem for all municipalities hosting the troops.
"What we need to do is not let incidents like this happen even if bases are here," he said.
"What we need to do is not let incidents like this happen even if bases are here," he said.
The Japanese and US governments have agreed to transfer 8,000 troops from the island to the US territory of Guam while relocating a controversial air station from the densely populated Ginowan city to another Okinawa city.
Okinawa assembly adopts protest resolution over alleged rape
NAHA, Japan, Feb. 14 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Okinawa prefectural assembly unanimously adopted on Thursday a resolution protesting the U.S. military and the United States over the recent alleged rape of a local girl by a U.S. Marine.
The assembly of the nation's southernmost prefecture also adopted a petition, calling for a reduced presence of U.S. forces, apologies to the girl and measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
In the resolution and the petition, the assembly described the incident as "an utterly unpardonable, despicable act, given the victim was an acquiescent girl."
Tyrone Hadnott, a 38-year-old staff sergeant at Camp Courtney is suspected of raping the girl on Sunday night inside a car parked on a street by a park in the town of Chatan. Hadnott was arrested Monday by local police. The police said he has denied raping the girl but has admitted to touching her in the vehicle.
The prefectural assembly, citing an assault of a Japanese woman by a family member of a U.S. serviceman in October and a robbery of a taxi driver by two U.S. servicemen in January, said, "Malicious, barbaric incidents have never ceased to take place, and we have no choice but to question the commitment by the U.S. military to enforce strict discipline."
The prefectural assembly's move follows protest resolutions of three municipalities -- the capital city of Naha, the city of Okinawa, as well as Chatan. At least 15 other cities, towns and villages are planning to lodge similar protests.
The assembly of the nation's southernmost prefecture also adopted a petition, calling for a reduced presence of U.S. forces, apologies to the girl and measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
In the resolution and the petition, the assembly described the incident as "an utterly unpardonable, despicable act, given the victim was an acquiescent girl."
Tyrone Hadnott, a 38-year-old staff sergeant at Camp Courtney is suspected of raping the girl on Sunday night inside a car parked on a street by a park in the town of Chatan. Hadnott was arrested Monday by local police. The police said he has denied raping the girl but has admitted to touching her in the vehicle.
The prefectural assembly, citing an assault of a Japanese woman by a family member of a U.S. serviceman in October and a robbery of a taxi driver by two U.S. servicemen in January, said, "Malicious, barbaric incidents have never ceased to take place, and we have no choice but to question the commitment by the U.S. military to enforce strict discipline."
The prefectural assembly's move follows protest resolutions of three municipalities -- the capital city of Naha, the city of Okinawa, as well as Chatan. At least 15 other cities, towns and villages are planning to lodge similar protests.
Rape case clouds US-Japan talks over future of Okinawa airbase
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Financial Times
February 13, 2008
The alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine has cast a pall over US-Japan relations, with Japan's foreign minister yesterday saying it was bound to affect delicate negotiations over the relocation of US military bases.
The incident, which has stirred up memories of the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by US servicemen, has reverberated around the strategically vital island of Okinawa, where the bulk of American forces are located. Washington regards Okinawa, home to its biggest airbase outside the US, as its most important military asset in east Asia.
The 1995 rape galvanised anti-base feeling in Okinawa and led indirectly to an agreement to relocate the Futenma air base to another part of the island and to move 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Talks over who is to pay for the relocation and how it is to be carried out have dogged US-Japan relations for a decade.
Yasuo Fukuda, the Japanese prime minister, described the alleged incident as "not permissible" while his spokesman expressed consternation that such a thing could have happened in spite of US assurances that they would control the roughly 50,000 soldiers stationed in Japan.
Masahiko Komura, the foreign minister, said the furious reaction of islanders was bound to complicate discussions about the relocation of Futenma airbase to Nago, also on Okinawa. Many locals have objected to the transfer on environmental grounds, while some have called for the base to be moved off the island altogether.
Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian studies at Temple University, said: "Even if we don't know all the facts yet, this incident will be a strain on US-Japan relations. The burden of proof is going to be on this Marine. In Okinawan eyes he is already guilty."
Mr Kingston said such incidents tapped into strong feelings of resentment in Okinawa, where many regard the distant Tokyo government as having sold them down river. "They have had to bear the burden of US bases in Japan and have generally just had to suck it up," he said.
Passions were already running high in Okinawa, where huge rallies had been held against plans to omit references from school textbooks about the military's role in ordering mass suicides near the end of the second world war. The plan, initiated under the previous government of Shinzo Abe, has been largely dropped.
Hirokazu Nakaima, the governor of Okinawa, said of the alleged rape: "I feel strong indignation against the crime and could never forgive it."
Financial Times
February 13, 2008
The alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine has cast a pall over US-Japan relations, with Japan's foreign minister yesterday saying it was bound to affect delicate negotiations over the relocation of US military bases.
The incident, which has stirred up memories of the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by US servicemen, has reverberated around the strategically vital island of Okinawa, where the bulk of American forces are located. Washington regards Okinawa, home to its biggest airbase outside the US, as its most important military asset in east Asia.
The 1995 rape galvanised anti-base feeling in Okinawa and led indirectly to an agreement to relocate the Futenma air base to another part of the island and to move 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Talks over who is to pay for the relocation and how it is to be carried out have dogged US-Japan relations for a decade.
Yasuo Fukuda, the Japanese prime minister, described the alleged incident as "not permissible" while his spokesman expressed consternation that such a thing could have happened in spite of US assurances that they would control the roughly 50,000 soldiers stationed in Japan.
Masahiko Komura, the foreign minister, said the furious reaction of islanders was bound to complicate discussions about the relocation of Futenma airbase to Nago, also on Okinawa. Many locals have objected to the transfer on environmental grounds, while some have called for the base to be moved off the island altogether.
Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian studies at Temple University, said: "Even if we don't know all the facts yet, this incident will be a strain on US-Japan relations. The burden of proof is going to be on this Marine. In Okinawan eyes he is already guilty."
Mr Kingston said such incidents tapped into strong feelings of resentment in Okinawa, where many regard the distant Tokyo government as having sold them down river. "They have had to bear the burden of US bases in Japan and have generally just had to suck it up," he said.
Passions were already running high in Okinawa, where huge rallies had been held against plans to omit references from school textbooks about the military's role in ordering mass suicides near the end of the second world war. The plan, initiated under the previous government of Shinzo Abe, has been largely dropped.
Hirokazu Nakaima, the governor of Okinawa, said of the alleged rape: "I feel strong indignation against the crime and could never forgive it."
U.S. working to ease tensions in Japan rape case
CNN
Feb 11, 2008
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A high-level American delegation may be headed to Okinawa soon to smooth strained relations with Japan after allegations a U.S. Marine raped a Japanese teenager.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday deplored the incident as "unforgivable."
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday deplored the incident as "unforgivable."
Okinawa authorities are bracing for protests if Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, is charged in the alleged Sunday night attack on a 14-year-old girl.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "It's a horrendous crime, and we take these allegations very seriously. We are working very closely with Japanese officials on the matter."
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "It's a horrendous crime, and we take these allegations very seriously. We are working very closely with Japanese officials on the matter."
McCormack suggested an American delegation soon might meet with the family of the alleged victim or local officials, he said.
"I would expect there would be some senior-level U.S. visitors, not from the U.S. but from inside Japan, who might make a trip down there to Okinawa," he said.
He wouldn't give any details other than to say such a visit might include the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, and a top U.S. military officer.
The episode echoes a similar incident more than a decade ago that strained relations between the United States and Japan. Watch as the new case strikes a raw nerve in Okinawa »
In 1995, anti-U.S. sentiments boiled over when three American servicemen gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl. Two years ago, a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women.
"There have been incidents like this in the past, and it is a problem that it has occurred again," Fukuda told a parliamentary panel Tuesday. "We take this very seriously."
Also Tuesday, the deputy police chief of Okinawa City released more details of the case, saying Hadnott offered to take the girl home on his motorcycle.
The schoolgirl, he said, was walking with her friends and accepted Hadnott's offer.
The schoolgirl, he said, was walking with her friends and accepted Hadnott's offer.
According to police, Hadnott took the girl to a house and later to his car. They drove to a park where he allegedly attacked her, police said. The girl used her cell phone to call friends, who notified police.
Hadnott reportedly told authorities he only tried to push the girl down and kiss her. The girl disputed his claims, and police said they intend to file rape charges. Under Japanese law, a person can be held up to 10 days without charges.
The assault was reported Sunday night in the Chatan entertainment district on Okinawa, a major hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.
Hadnott is based at Camp Courtney there. More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, most of them in Okinawa. They were placed there under a security alliance after Japan was defeated in World War II and forced to renounce its right to a military.
The servicemen's presence has at times bred resentment among local residents who have long complained about crime, noise and accidents.
Govt to speed jet move plan following vote
Kenji Yoshimura and Tsuneyo Muraoka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
Feb 13, 2008
Yoshihiko Fukuda's victory in Sunday's mayoral election in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was a boost for the government and ruling parties, which have struggled to win support for a plan to transfer some U.S. carrier-based aircraft to the city as part of a wider realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
Since Fukuda's victory suggests that voters in Iwakuni may be ready to accept the basing of U.S. aircraft in the area, a government source said, "There now seems to be a chance for constructive dialogue with local residents."
The government plans to hold negotiations with the new mayor as part of steps to realize the planned transfer.
Late Sunday night, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba issued a statement expressing his expectation of progress on the transfer plan following Fukuda's victory. It said, "I'll listen to the new mayor's opinions about the U.S. forces' realignment as soon as possible and do everything possible to obtain support from Iwakuni citizens." Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki also issued a statement, which said, "Considering Japan's security and the importance of Japan-U.S. relations, the election result has great significance."
During the closely fought election campaign, the government insisted that the transfer plan would proceed regardless of the result. But many in the government expressed relief after the victory by Fukuda, who supports the plan. Hidehisa Otsuji, chairman of the LDP caucus in the House of Councillors, expressed the consensus view in the ruling parties: "Mr. Fukuda fought well. We welcome the result."
In the wake of the election, the government is aiming to move forward with the transfer plan as quickly as possible. For example, the government has started negotiations to pay subsidies to the Iwakuni city government that the city government estimates amount to 13.4 billion yen, but which have been withheld due to the dispute over the jet transfer.
The government aims to pay the subsidies by the end of this month, and also will consider lifting a freeze on about 3.5 billion yen in further subsidies to the municipal government for the purpose of constructing a new city government building.
Speaking Sunday night, Fukuda told reporters: "I'll negotiate with the central government regarding noise and public safety problems to secure citizens' safety and tranquility. I'll never let myself become a puppet of the central government."
The new mayor indicated he would enter the negotiations with a view to accepting the transfer of the jets. "I'll hold talks with the central and prefectural governments to obtain subsidies and other aid that can help us," he said.
While agreeing to the transfer plan, Fukuda urged the central government to implement steps including noise-reduction measures to help overcome opposition to the transfer plan.
In a city referendum in March 2006 on whether to approve the transfer plan, 87 percent of voters opposed it. In a mayoral election in April 2006, Katsusuke Ihara, who opposed the plan, won by a margin of more than two-to-one.
In the latest election, Fukuda refrained from mentioning the transfer issue as much as possible, instead promoting himself as well-placed to solve the city's economic problems using his close ties to central government.
An aide to Fukuda said, "Citizens are more interested in how to revive the battered local economy than about the aircraft transfer issue."
The administrations of former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe took a hard-line attitude with Iwakuni and other local governments that refused to accept the U.S. forces realignment plan.
In August, the central government created a system of subsidies to local governments that were linked to their degree of cooperation in the realignment plan in an attempt to pressure local governments to accept it.
Ihara resigned and sought reelection because the central government froze payment of the subsidy for construction of the city government's new office building.
The subsidy was originally awarded in return for the city's acceptance of refueling aircraft currently based at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture--a transfer that was decided in 1996 by the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO).
But then Mayor Ihara refused to accept the transfer of carrier-based aircraft, which had been agreed in 2006 by the Japanese and U.S. governments.
The central government excluded Iwakuni from the list of local governments eligible to receive the realignment-related subsidies, and also froze the subsidy provided by SACO.
Some local governments have complained that the central government's carrot-and-stick approach was never acceptable.
But 36 of 39 local governments eligible for the subsidies have announced that they will accept the U.S. forces realignment plan. Three in Okinawa Prefecture--Kincho, Onnason and Ginozason, which had opposed joint use of Camp Hansen by U.S. forces and the Ground Self-Defense Force--dropped their opposition in November.
At that point, there remained only three local governments--Iwakuni; Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, to which the functions of Futenma Air Station are scheduled to be transferred; and Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, to which the U.S. Army 1st Corps Forward Headquarters is scheduled to move--that opposed the realignment plan.
Following Iwakuni's apparent about-face, the city governments in Nago and Zama became the last holdouts. A senior Defense Ministry official said, "Though there has been criticism, the carrot-and-stick approach was successful in the end."
However, an increasing number of government officials have voiced doubts about the merit of continuing the denial of subsidies as a way to pressure local governments.
A senior government official insisted more dialogue was necessary saying, "The U.S. base issue won't be resolved as long as the central government keeps slapping people around the face with bundles of bank notes."
Regarding the transfer of the functions of Futenma Air Station, the administration of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is trying to shift to a policy of dialogue with local citizens.
Feb 13, 2008
Yoshihiko Fukuda's victory in Sunday's mayoral election in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was a boost for the government and ruling parties, which have struggled to win support for a plan to transfer some U.S. carrier-based aircraft to the city as part of a wider realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
Since Fukuda's victory suggests that voters in Iwakuni may be ready to accept the basing of U.S. aircraft in the area, a government source said, "There now seems to be a chance for constructive dialogue with local residents."
The government plans to hold negotiations with the new mayor as part of steps to realize the planned transfer.
Late Sunday night, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba issued a statement expressing his expectation of progress on the transfer plan following Fukuda's victory. It said, "I'll listen to the new mayor's opinions about the U.S. forces' realignment as soon as possible and do everything possible to obtain support from Iwakuni citizens." Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki also issued a statement, which said, "Considering Japan's security and the importance of Japan-U.S. relations, the election result has great significance."
During the closely fought election campaign, the government insisted that the transfer plan would proceed regardless of the result. But many in the government expressed relief after the victory by Fukuda, who supports the plan. Hidehisa Otsuji, chairman of the LDP caucus in the House of Councillors, expressed the consensus view in the ruling parties: "Mr. Fukuda fought well. We welcome the result."
In the wake of the election, the government is aiming to move forward with the transfer plan as quickly as possible. For example, the government has started negotiations to pay subsidies to the Iwakuni city government that the city government estimates amount to 13.4 billion yen, but which have been withheld due to the dispute over the jet transfer.
The government aims to pay the subsidies by the end of this month, and also will consider lifting a freeze on about 3.5 billion yen in further subsidies to the municipal government for the purpose of constructing a new city government building.
Speaking Sunday night, Fukuda told reporters: "I'll negotiate with the central government regarding noise and public safety problems to secure citizens' safety and tranquility. I'll never let myself become a puppet of the central government."
The new mayor indicated he would enter the negotiations with a view to accepting the transfer of the jets. "I'll hold talks with the central and prefectural governments to obtain subsidies and other aid that can help us," he said.
While agreeing to the transfer plan, Fukuda urged the central government to implement steps including noise-reduction measures to help overcome opposition to the transfer plan.
In a city referendum in March 2006 on whether to approve the transfer plan, 87 percent of voters opposed it. In a mayoral election in April 2006, Katsusuke Ihara, who opposed the plan, won by a margin of more than two-to-one.
In the latest election, Fukuda refrained from mentioning the transfer issue as much as possible, instead promoting himself as well-placed to solve the city's economic problems using his close ties to central government.
An aide to Fukuda said, "Citizens are more interested in how to revive the battered local economy than about the aircraft transfer issue."
The administrations of former prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe took a hard-line attitude with Iwakuni and other local governments that refused to accept the U.S. forces realignment plan.
In August, the central government created a system of subsidies to local governments that were linked to their degree of cooperation in the realignment plan in an attempt to pressure local governments to accept it.
Ihara resigned and sought reelection because the central government froze payment of the subsidy for construction of the city government's new office building.
The subsidy was originally awarded in return for the city's acceptance of refueling aircraft currently based at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture--a transfer that was decided in 1996 by the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO).
But then Mayor Ihara refused to accept the transfer of carrier-based aircraft, which had been agreed in 2006 by the Japanese and U.S. governments.
The central government excluded Iwakuni from the list of local governments eligible to receive the realignment-related subsidies, and also froze the subsidy provided by SACO.
Some local governments have complained that the central government's carrot-and-stick approach was never acceptable.
But 36 of 39 local governments eligible for the subsidies have announced that they will accept the U.S. forces realignment plan. Three in Okinawa Prefecture--Kincho, Onnason and Ginozason, which had opposed joint use of Camp Hansen by U.S. forces and the Ground Self-Defense Force--dropped their opposition in November.
At that point, there remained only three local governments--Iwakuni; Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, to which the functions of Futenma Air Station are scheduled to be transferred; and Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, to which the U.S. Army 1st Corps Forward Headquarters is scheduled to move--that opposed the realignment plan.
Following Iwakuni's apparent about-face, the city governments in Nago and Zama became the last holdouts. A senior Defense Ministry official said, "Though there has been criticism, the carrot-and-stick approach was successful in the end."
However, an increasing number of government officials have voiced doubts about the merit of continuing the denial of subsidies as a way to pressure local governments.
A senior government official insisted more dialogue was necessary saying, "The U.S. base issue won't be resolved as long as the central government keeps slapping people around the face with bundles of bank notes."
Regarding the transfer of the functions of Futenma Air Station, the administration of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is trying to shift to a policy of dialogue with local citizens.
US Military in Japan Weighs New Curfews
By JOSEPH COLEMAN
AP
Feb 14, 2008
TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. military in Japan has ordered a review of its anti-sexual assault guidelines and could impose new curfews or other restrictions following a Marine's arrest on suspicion of rape, the top commander said Thursday.
The announcement came after U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer traveled to the southern island of Okinawa on Wednesday in an effort to quell rising anger over the case, in which a Marine sergeant is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl.
Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of U.S. forces in Japan, said he ordered a task force representing all the arms of the military to examine anti-sexual assault education programs and come up with recommendations for improvements.
The review is to take two to four weeks, he told a news conference.
Japanese police on Monday arrested Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott from Camp Courtney in Okinawa over the alleged attack the night before. Hadnott has not been charged and his hometown has not been released.
Japanese police said the girl met Hadnott on Sunday and accepted a ride on his motorbike after he offered to take her home. The Marine allegedly took her to his house instead. When the teenager started crying he said he would drive her home, and the girl claimed he then raped her in a car, police said.
Hadnott told investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but did not rape her, police said.
"This kind of act by one of our military members, a Marine staff sergeant, is absolutely unacceptable and in no way matches the commitment of our entire U.S. Forces Japan community to the highest possible moral and professional standards," Wright said.
The case has prompted comparisons with the gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen, which triggered massive protests against the American military presence.
On Thursday, the Okinawa state assembly adopted a resolution protesting the suspected rape and calling for an apology and compensation for the alleged victim and her family.
"This is an extremely heinous crime that caused great shock and fear among the people of Okinawa," said assemblyman Seiichi Oyakawa. "We can never forgive this."
Wright said the military was looking at a variety of measures to prevent further assaults, including curfews and limiting off-base activities. Enlisted Marines in Okinawa already face a midnight curfew, but that could be tightened or broadened to other services.
"We're looking at all applications — everything's on the table," he said.
Okinawa hosts a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan and residents have long complained about crimes committed by American forces. The two countries have agreed to realign U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
The resolution adopted in Okinawa also called on the United States to consolidate its Okinawa bases and reduce the number of its troops, including Marines, on the island.
Japan is considering setting up security cameras near U.S. bases in Okinawa, according to Deputy Cabinet Secretary Osamu Sakashita. He added, however, that such a plan requires the approval of local communities and consideration of privacy issues.
AP
Feb 14, 2008
TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. military in Japan has ordered a review of its anti-sexual assault guidelines and could impose new curfews or other restrictions following a Marine's arrest on suspicion of rape, the top commander said Thursday.
The announcement came after U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer traveled to the southern island of Okinawa on Wednesday in an effort to quell rising anger over the case, in which a Marine sergeant is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl.
Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of U.S. forces in Japan, said he ordered a task force representing all the arms of the military to examine anti-sexual assault education programs and come up with recommendations for improvements.
The review is to take two to four weeks, he told a news conference.
Japanese police on Monday arrested Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott from Camp Courtney in Okinawa over the alleged attack the night before. Hadnott has not been charged and his hometown has not been released.
Japanese police said the girl met Hadnott on Sunday and accepted a ride on his motorbike after he offered to take her home. The Marine allegedly took her to his house instead. When the teenager started crying he said he would drive her home, and the girl claimed he then raped her in a car, police said.
Hadnott told investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but did not rape her, police said.
"This kind of act by one of our military members, a Marine staff sergeant, is absolutely unacceptable and in no way matches the commitment of our entire U.S. Forces Japan community to the highest possible moral and professional standards," Wright said.
The case has prompted comparisons with the gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen, which triggered massive protests against the American military presence.
On Thursday, the Okinawa state assembly adopted a resolution protesting the suspected rape and calling for an apology and compensation for the alleged victim and her family.
"This is an extremely heinous crime that caused great shock and fear among the people of Okinawa," said assemblyman Seiichi Oyakawa. "We can never forgive this."
Wright said the military was looking at a variety of measures to prevent further assaults, including curfews and limiting off-base activities. Enlisted Marines in Okinawa already face a midnight curfew, but that could be tightened or broadened to other services.
"We're looking at all applications — everything's on the table," he said.
Okinawa hosts a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan and residents have long complained about crimes committed by American forces. The two countries have agreed to realign U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
The resolution adopted in Okinawa also called on the United States to consolidate its Okinawa bases and reduce the number of its troops, including Marines, on the island.
Japan is considering setting up security cameras near U.S. bases in Okinawa, according to Deputy Cabinet Secretary Osamu Sakashita. He added, however, that such a plan requires the approval of local communities and consideration of privacy issues.
Okinawans demand fewer U.S. troops, tighter discipline after alleged rape by Marine
Mainichi Daily News
Feb 14, 2008
TOKYO (AP) -- Okinawan lawmakers passed a measure Thursday condemning the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by an American serviceman, as the U.S. Marines began two days of training to tighten discipline among troops.
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution protesting the alleged rape as American officials try to quell anger on the island scarred by memories of an earlier rape case that sparked massive protests in the 1990s. The resolution also called for an apology and compensation for the alleged victim and her family.
"This is an extremely heinous crime that caused great shock and fear among the people of Okinawa," said assemblyman Seiichi Oyakawa. "We can never forgive this."
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines in Japan began a two-day ethics and leadership training program to define the standards of conduct expected of them, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Judd Wilson said in an e-mail.
The training addresses how to maintain good relations with Japan, monitor one another and take action to prevent any form of misconduct, and it teaches the importance of obeying Japanese and American laws, he said.
Wilson refused to say how many Marines were stationed in Japan, citing security concerns, but added that historically about 18,000 have been stationed on the southern island.
Police arrested Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, a 38-year-old Marine from Camp Courtney in Okinawa on Monday over the alleged attack on the 14-year-old girl the night before. The case prompted comparisons with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen, which prompted massive protests against the U.S. military.
Hadnott has not been charged and his hometown has not been released.
Okinawa hosts a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan and residents have long complained about crimes committed by American forces. The two countries have agreed to realign U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
The resolution adopted Thursday called for an apology and compensation for the victim and her family, and urged the U.S. military in Japan to tighten discipline. The resolution also called on the United States to consolidate its Okinawa bases and reduce the number of its troops, including Marines, in Okinawa.
Japan is considering setting up security cameras near U.S. bases in Okinawa, according to deputy Cabinet secretary Osamu Sakashita. He added, however, that such a plan also required the approval of local communities and consideration of privacy issues.
On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer flew to Okinawa to tell residents he took the Marine's arrest seriously.
Japanese police said the girl met Hadnott on Sunday and accepted a ride on his motorbike after he offered to take her home. The Marine allegedly took her to his house instead. When the teenager started crying he said he would drive her home, and the girl claimed he then raped her in a car, police said.
Hadnott told investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but did not rape her, police said.
Feb 14, 2008
TOKYO (AP) -- Okinawan lawmakers passed a measure Thursday condemning the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by an American serviceman, as the U.S. Marines began two days of training to tighten discipline among troops.
The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution protesting the alleged rape as American officials try to quell anger on the island scarred by memories of an earlier rape case that sparked massive protests in the 1990s. The resolution also called for an apology and compensation for the alleged victim and her family.
"This is an extremely heinous crime that caused great shock and fear among the people of Okinawa," said assemblyman Seiichi Oyakawa. "We can never forgive this."
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines in Japan began a two-day ethics and leadership training program to define the standards of conduct expected of them, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Judd Wilson said in an e-mail.
The training addresses how to maintain good relations with Japan, monitor one another and take action to prevent any form of misconduct, and it teaches the importance of obeying Japanese and American laws, he said.
Wilson refused to say how many Marines were stationed in Japan, citing security concerns, but added that historically about 18,000 have been stationed on the southern island.
Police arrested Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, a 38-year-old Marine from Camp Courtney in Okinawa on Monday over the alleged attack on the 14-year-old girl the night before. The case prompted comparisons with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa in 1995 by three U.S. servicemen, which prompted massive protests against the U.S. military.
Hadnott has not been charged and his hometown has not been released.
Okinawa hosts a majority of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan and residents have long complained about crimes committed by American forces. The two countries have agreed to realign U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
The resolution adopted Thursday called for an apology and compensation for the victim and her family, and urged the U.S. military in Japan to tighten discipline. The resolution also called on the United States to consolidate its Okinawa bases and reduce the number of its troops, including Marines, in Okinawa.
Japan is considering setting up security cameras near U.S. bases in Okinawa, according to deputy Cabinet secretary Osamu Sakashita. He added, however, that such a plan also required the approval of local communities and consideration of privacy issues.
On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer flew to Okinawa to tell residents he took the Marine's arrest seriously.
Japanese police said the girl met Hadnott on Sunday and accepted a ride on his motorbike after he offered to take her home. The Marine allegedly took her to his house instead. When the teenager started crying he said he would drive her home, and the girl claimed he then raped her in a car, police said.
Hadnott told investigators he forced the girl down and kissed her, but did not rape her, police said.
Japan urges UN to abide by principles of 'Mottainai'
Mainichi Daily News
Feb 14, 2008
Japan appealed to the United Nations member states the importance of not keeping wasteful lifestyles, or "Mottainai", on Wednesday as part of the UN's thematic debate on climate change.
"We must recognize that there are things we can do right now, and get to work on them. Most importantly, we should promote eco-lifestyles - Mottainai (not wasteful) lifestyle," said Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu to the UN audience.
Mottainai is a Japanese term that can be roughly interpreted in English as "What a waste!" The word was spread by Kenyan environmentalist and Noble Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai as a catchphrase for promoting lifestyles of reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling, according to the Mottainai campaign office in Japan.
"Recycling should be encouraged, and our homes and offices could be maintained in an energy-efficient manner," Takasu appealed to the member states.
Takasu also said Japan is willing to transfer high standard environmental technology to other countries to conserve energy and reduce the amount of CO2 emissions there.
The UN thematic debate was aimed at discussing how the United Nations can collaborate with member states, the private sector and civil society to collectively address the issue of climate change. The debate started Feb. 11 and ended Wednesday. (By Atsuko Teramoto, Mainichi New York Bureau)
（Mainichi Japan） February 14, 2008
Feb 14, 2008
Japan appealed to the United Nations member states the importance of not keeping wasteful lifestyles, or "Mottainai", on Wednesday as part of the UN's thematic debate on climate change.
"We must recognize that there are things we can do right now, and get to work on them. Most importantly, we should promote eco-lifestyles - Mottainai (not wasteful) lifestyle," said Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu to the UN audience.
Mottainai is a Japanese term that can be roughly interpreted in English as "What a waste!" The word was spread by Kenyan environmentalist and Noble Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai as a catchphrase for promoting lifestyles of reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling, according to the Mottainai campaign office in Japan.
"Recycling should be encouraged, and our homes and offices could be maintained in an energy-efficient manner," Takasu appealed to the member states.
Takasu also said Japan is willing to transfer high standard environmental technology to other countries to conserve energy and reduce the amount of CO2 emissions there.
The UN thematic debate was aimed at discussing how the United Nations can collaborate with member states, the private sector and civil society to collectively address the issue of climate change. The debate started Feb. 11 and ended Wednesday. (By Atsuko Teramoto, Mainichi New York Bureau)
（Mainichi Japan） February 14, 2008
Gov't to consider security cameras in areas near U.S. bases
Kyodo News
February 14, 2008
TOKYO — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima on Thursday that he will step up calls on the United States to tighten military discipline and take preventive measures in the wake of the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday. As part of its own efforts to prevent such incidents, the government started considering installing security cameras in downtown and other areas near U.S. bases in Japan depending on approval by local authorities.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Fukuda at the premier's office in Tokyo, Nakaima said he asked Fukuda to urge the U.S. military to map out preventive measures that "will convince the people in the prefecture" and told him that the measures should be made public.
"I've conveyed the anger of the people in the prefecture...and the prime minister told me that he accepts my request and will work with utmost efforts," Nakaima said. He also separately met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.
Earlier in the day, Machimura told a press conference that he ordered Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera to work out details of preventive measures the government will take under the initiative of the Foreign Ministry and other related ministries.
Onodera was quoted as saying that the government should consider installing security cameras in "major areas" and that the idea "is worth considering if local municipalities agree to cooperate, although there is opposition due to privacy concerns."
Onodera also proposed that Japanese police join patrolling activities which have been conducted by senior U.S. military personnel mainly on a voluntary basis, according to Machimura.
Meanwhile, the top government spokesman took a negative stance on fundamentally reviewing the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which prevents Japanese authorities from having sole jurisdiction over cases involving U.S. military personnel, saying the accord "has not disrupted anything at all in this case."
Nakaima called for fundamentally reviewing the agreement at an Okinawa prefectural assembly session on Wednesday, but he said he did not touch on the issue during talks with Fukuda and Machimura on Thursday.
February 14, 2008
TOKYO — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima on Thursday that he will step up calls on the United States to tighten military discipline and take preventive measures in the wake of the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday. As part of its own efforts to prevent such incidents, the government started considering installing security cameras in downtown and other areas near U.S. bases in Japan depending on approval by local authorities.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Fukuda at the premier's office in Tokyo, Nakaima said he asked Fukuda to urge the U.S. military to map out preventive measures that "will convince the people in the prefecture" and told him that the measures should be made public.
"I've conveyed the anger of the people in the prefecture...and the prime minister told me that he accepts my request and will work with utmost efforts," Nakaima said. He also separately met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.
Earlier in the day, Machimura told a press conference that he ordered Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera to work out details of preventive measures the government will take under the initiative of the Foreign Ministry and other related ministries.
Onodera was quoted as saying that the government should consider installing security cameras in "major areas" and that the idea "is worth considering if local municipalities agree to cooperate, although there is opposition due to privacy concerns."
Onodera also proposed that Japanese police join patrolling activities which have been conducted by senior U.S. military personnel mainly on a voluntary basis, according to Machimura.
Meanwhile, the top government spokesman took a negative stance on fundamentally reviewing the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which prevents Japanese authorities from having sole jurisdiction over cases involving U.S. military personnel, saying the accord "has not disrupted anything at all in this case."
Nakaima called for fundamentally reviewing the agreement at an Okinawa prefectural assembly session on Wednesday, but he said he did not touch on the issue during talks with Fukuda and Machimura on Thursday.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
US envoy sorry over Japan rape case
by Harumi Ozawa
Feb 13, 2008
NAHA, Japan (AFP) - The US ambassador to Japan offered a personal apology Wednesday over a US Marine's alleged rape of a young girl in Okinawa, amid warnings that the incident could damage the countries' alliance.
US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer flew to the southern island and bowed in front of the governor, pledging cooperation "to ensure that justice is done" in the case.
"Every American in Japan today, whether they are military or civilian, wants the little girl and her family to know that we are thinking of her and hoping that she will soon recover from this traumatic experience," Schieffer said.
Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, was arrested on Monday over allegations that he raped a 14-year-old girl in his car on the island, which is home to thousands of US troops.
He has admitted trying to forcibly kiss her but denied raping her. News reports on Wednesday said that Hadnott had a Japanese wife and told police he did not know the girl was underage.
The incident rekindled memories of the gang-rape in 1995 of a 12-year-old girl by three US Marines, which set off major protests on the island and set in motion a process to reduce the number of US troops there.
The United States stations more than 40,000 personnel in Japan under a security treaty to defend its key Asian ally, which has been officially pacifist since World War II.
Okinawa, which was under US control from 1945 to 1972, is home to more than half the troops, and their presence causes frequent friction with local residents.
The Japanese foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned the US embassy's number two over the rape case in the absence of Schieffer, who was on his way back from an overseas trip.
Schieffer, returning from his day visit to Okinawa, also later headed to the foreign ministry to express his sorrow.
"I would like to express to you and the people of Japan that we sincerely regret this has happened," Schieffer told reporters before meeting with Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.
"To think a 14-year-old child would be submitted to something like this is just awful," he said.
Komura replied that the US military has made promises before.
"I understand that the US side has taken a variety or educational programmes to prevent such incidents. But an unfortunate incident happened again, so I must request that you review all these programmes," Komura said.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima -- a government ally who was more conciliatory towards US troops than his rival when he was elected in 2006 -- called for a "drastic review" of rules surrounding US troops in Japan.
"If this kind of incident continues, public anger will rise and seriously impact the issue of future base relocation," he said before meeting with the US ambassador.
In Tokyo, 40 demonstrators rallied outside the US embassy carrying a banner reading, "No rape, no base."
Japanese newspapers also voiced anger, with the Tokyo Shimbun saying in an editorial: "How many times have we had to face such barbarian acts by American soldiers?"
US officials have said they would work to improve troops' conduct, saying the military has "zero tolerance" for sexual assault, while pointing out that the vast majority of soldiers behave themselves.
The Yomiuri Shimbun said that 32 US soldiers or civilians living on bases in Okinawa had been taken into custody for serious crimes between 1996 and 2006.
The case came as Tokyo tries to persuade residents of the Okinawan town of Nago to host facilities of the US Marines' Futenma Air Station, which would be transferred from more densely populated Ginowan city.
Activists have pressed for the air station to be removed from Okinawa entirely. The US military has already agreed to transfer some 8,000 troops from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam.
Feb 13, 2008
NAHA, Japan (AFP) - The US ambassador to Japan offered a personal apology Wednesday over a US Marine's alleged rape of a young girl in Okinawa, amid warnings that the incident could damage the countries' alliance.
US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer flew to the southern island and bowed in front of the governor, pledging cooperation "to ensure that justice is done" in the case.
"Every American in Japan today, whether they are military or civilian, wants the little girl and her family to know that we are thinking of her and hoping that she will soon recover from this traumatic experience," Schieffer said.
Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, was arrested on Monday over allegations that he raped a 14-year-old girl in his car on the island, which is home to thousands of US troops.
He has admitted trying to forcibly kiss her but denied raping her. News reports on Wednesday said that Hadnott had a Japanese wife and told police he did not know the girl was underage.
The incident rekindled memories of the gang-rape in 1995 of a 12-year-old girl by three US Marines, which set off major protests on the island and set in motion a process to reduce the number of US troops there.
The United States stations more than 40,000 personnel in Japan under a security treaty to defend its key Asian ally, which has been officially pacifist since World War II.
Okinawa, which was under US control from 1945 to 1972, is home to more than half the troops, and their presence causes frequent friction with local residents.
The Japanese foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned the US embassy's number two over the rape case in the absence of Schieffer, who was on his way back from an overseas trip.
Schieffer, returning from his day visit to Okinawa, also later headed to the foreign ministry to express his sorrow.
"I would like to express to you and the people of Japan that we sincerely regret this has happened," Schieffer told reporters before meeting with Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.
"To think a 14-year-old child would be submitted to something like this is just awful," he said.
Komura replied that the US military has made promises before.
"I understand that the US side has taken a variety or educational programmes to prevent such incidents. But an unfortunate incident happened again, so I must request that you review all these programmes," Komura said.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima -- a government ally who was more conciliatory towards US troops than his rival when he was elected in 2006 -- called for a "drastic review" of rules surrounding US troops in Japan.
"If this kind of incident continues, public anger will rise and seriously impact the issue of future base relocation," he said before meeting with the US ambassador.
In Tokyo, 40 demonstrators rallied outside the US embassy carrying a banner reading, "No rape, no base."
Japanese newspapers also voiced anger, with the Tokyo Shimbun saying in an editorial: "How many times have we had to face such barbarian acts by American soldiers?"
US officials have said they would work to improve troops' conduct, saying the military has "zero tolerance" for sexual assault, while pointing out that the vast majority of soldiers behave themselves.
The Yomiuri Shimbun said that 32 US soldiers or civilians living on bases in Okinawa had been taken into custody for serious crimes between 1996 and 2006.
The case came as Tokyo tries to persuade residents of the Okinawan town of Nago to host facilities of the US Marines' Futenma Air Station, which would be transferred from more densely populated Ginowan city.
Activists have pressed for the air station to be removed from Okinawa entirely. The US military has already agreed to transfer some 8,000 troops from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam.
Japan! Culture + Hyperculture @ the Kennedy Center
In the eyes of a Westerner, all those things that make the Japanese culture so intriguing -- the mastery of complex technologies, the embrace of natural elements and environmental sustainability, the obsession over all things "cute" -- are on display in interactive exhibits throughout the Kennedy Center in Japan! Culture + Hyperculture. Filling the inside halls and spilling over to the exterior grounds and even the parking garage, the exhibition gives us a taste of many art forms, from visual art exhibits and theater, to Manga reading rooms and collections of robot toys. Except for a few ticketed performances, the exhibit is otherwise free, running daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Feb. 17.
Japan! eases you in with a couple of interesting but tame exhibits on the Foyer Main Level. The Hall of States holds a few lacquer sculptures by Nobuyuki Tanaka. These orange bowl shapes, which shine so brilliantly they seem nearly to glow in the dark, are made by layering linen and lacquer over a wood form, which is later removed. Over in the Hall of Nations, the intricate textile work of Motoko Maio is showcased with her byobu, or folding screens.
Although the strange lighting on this exhibit is likely on purpose -- the screens are canvases for nature scenes that incorporate the highlights and shadows of the natural fibers -- it's done a bit too harshly, leaving much of her work in the dark. But what you can see is dramatic, with gorgeous pieces of lacquered paper, crushed shells, and even antique kimonos woven together on these screens that fold in both directions, changing the scope of the landscape.
The Hall of States also features part of Robotica Rising, with a beautiful Japanese "woman" (actually named Actroid DER2) in a kimono that answers questions posed by visitors with its "cutting-edge" voice recognition technology. Don't linger, as the best of the robots are upstairs, and this one seems to be a favorite with the kids -- during a visit over the weekend, a group of them dominated the microphone with ungrammatical questions the robot struggled to answer.
The Terrace Level is where all the real action is. Turn your geek on hyperdrive as you enter the Nations Gallery, where the rest of Robotica Rising is on display. Mitsubishi's "Wakamaru," a two and a half foot yellow robot that kind of looks like a giant Lego person, shakes hands and attempts to perform other easy movements if you can pronounce Japanese well enough from the cards provided. Just past Wakamaru, gape in awe at the collection of Jumbo Machinders behind glass, loaned to the exhibition by American Matt Alt, who began collecting the large robot toys when he was young and was, as a result, inexorably absorbed by Japanese culture (he now lives in Japan). The toys -- which include Voltron and Godzilla -- are characters from "kids shows about heroic humans who piloted giant robots."
Here you'll also find a Manga and Anime reading lounge (yes, many of the items are for sale) and tables set up for demonstrations of smaller robots that kick balls and do somersaults. Stick around the Nations Gallery for the 15 minute performance of Honda's ASIMO (pictured above) or Toyota's Partner Robot, who has lips so human-like it can play the trumpet. The shows are daily (and free) and performance times are listed on TV screens near the stage. Though our "what's awesome in reality" scale might be slightly twisted by seeing so much CGI in movies, watching the four foot tall ASIMO actually pick up his feet and run across the stage is still pretty amazing. Get there at least 20 minutes beforehand to get a good spot.
Now that Japan! has warmed you up to have your mind blown a little bit, step into Dots Obsession, a visual art installation by Yayoi Kusama. Abused as a child, Kusama embraced obsession-inspired work to keep her sanity. She worked for many years in the U.S., creating avant-garde visual and performance art, but now lives voluntarily in an institution in Tokyo, leaving only to create more work. The two rooms of Dots Obsession, one with black dots on yellow walls (Day), the other yellow on black (Night), are hidden at opposite ends of the Atrium Foyer, making some visitors pause at the intensity and consider if they might be losing their minds just a little bit, which is, of course, the best part. Kusama's text at the entrance says:
...I created this work with the wish that peace and love would continue to exist forever in the universe, which is filled with polka dot forms. The Earth is one, and so are the stars, the sun and the moon...I have stood between the pleasure and fear of filling the void of my heart with ever so infinite dots obsession and I feel elated all over my body.These exhibits comprise barely half the exhibition. Koi kites, costume displays, photography exhibits, and more fill the Kennedy Center, and during your wanderings, you may stumble across ancient Japanese drum performances, an impromptu robot demo, and who knows what else. Check out the events listing for more information, including ticketed shows.
Photo of Honda's ASIMO robot by Kyle Gustafson. Photo of interior of Dots Obsession -- Day by Techne.
U.S. ambassador apologizes to Okinawa governor over alleged rape of schoolgirl
NAHA -- U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer apologized to Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Wednesday for the alleged rape of a junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine stationed in the prefecture.
The diplomat promised to cooperate closely with the governor and law enforcement authorities to get to the bottom of the incident, while taking measures to prevent a recurrence.
"We also want to reach out to the girl's family and tell them how sorry we are," Schieffer told Nakaima at prefectural government headquarters in Naha on Wednesday afternoon. Schieffer was accompanied by Bruce Write, commander of U.S. forces in Japan.
Nakaima handed a letter to Wright, urging him to fully disclose to prefectural residents the details of the preventive measures that the United States will take.
Following the meeting, Schieffer told reporters that the United States will place priority on getting to the bottom of the incident.
He expressed hope that the incident will not adversely affect the planned relocation of U.S. Futenma Air Station in the Okinawa Prefecture city of Ginowan to nearby Nago.
Protests escalating in Okinawa over alleged rape; letter sent to Bush
February 13, 2008
NAHA — Protests continued to spread Wednesday in Okinawa Prefecture in the wake of the alleged rape by a U.S. Marine of a 14-year-old girl over the weekend, while Gov Hirokazu Nakaima called for a fundamental review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
Two local assemblies each unanimously adopted a protest resolution and a statement against the U.S. and Japanese governments, while Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, an influential civic group that played a key role in a massive rally in 1995, sent a letter to U.S. President George W Bush.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer visited Nakaima at the Okinawa prefectural government to convey regret over the incident and asked the governor to deliver a letter expressing his sympathy to the girl and her family, according to prefectural government officials.
"It is truly regrettable that an incident like this could have occurred," Schieffer said in a statement to the governor and the people of Okinawa. "We want to assure you that we will do all we can to cooperate with you and the authorities here to ensure that justice is done in this matter." He was accompanied by Lt Gen Bruce Wright, the top commander of the U.S. forces in Japan.
In a written request, Nakaima urged the U.S. ambassador to ensure that the U.S. forces in Okinawa "will make every possible effort" to prevent a recurrence of such an incident "by enforcing stricter discipline as well as strengthening the education of the service members."
"We feel utterly unforgiving and extremely resentful over the incident," Nakaima said, calling the alleged rape a felonious crime. "It is deplorable that despite all our past requests, such an incident has occurred again."
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera, meanwhile, told Marine Lt Gen Richard Zilmer at the Foreign Ministry's office in the prefecture that the U.S. military's conventional measures to control service members are "insufficient."
"The U.S. side has so far restricted outings from bases, but the incident occurred in a different situation," Onodera told a press conference after the meeting, referring to the fact that the arrested Marine lives outside the base.
Zilmer, who heads the U.S. military in Okinawa, was quoted as replying that he would tell senior base officials to deal with the situation, such as by reviewing education programs for soldiers.
The incident would have an unignorable impact on the U.S. military realignment in Japan and the U.S. side is well aware of that, Onodera said.
In the resolutions and statements adopted in respective impromptu sessions, the assemblies of the town of Chatan, where the alleged rape occurred Sunday night, and the city of Okinawa, where the Marine allegedly met the girl, called for preventive measures, an apology and compensation for the victim.
The Okinawa city assembly denounced the incident as "absolutely impermissible," while the Chatan town assembly said no effects can be seen from disciplinary and other measures taken after past incidents involving U.S. soldiers and that local people are "exposed to fear."
In a prefectural assembly session, Nakaima said, "In order to resolve various issues pertaining to U.S. bases, mere improved operations of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, under which discretion is entrusted to the U.S. side, are insufficient and a drastic review is necessary."
The women's civic group called for an apology and compensation in the letter to Bush, while stressing the need to provide psychological support for children who have been victims of violence by U.S. military personnel.
The group also called for strict punishment of the suspect and for overseeing U.S. military personnel living outside bases.
In 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa, the group called for protest activities at a press conference three days after the incident came to light.
The group and two other organizations of women successively held protest rallies which eventually coalesced into a single mass demonstration. The protest moves led Japan and the United States to agree the following year to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station and to vacate some other U.S. military facilities in Okinawa.
Uncertainties remain over whether the latest incident will head in the same direction as in 1995.
Suzuyo Takazato, a former Naha assembly member who belongs to the women's group, said, "Things were not planned from the beginning to move that way in 1995."
In the latest case, a 38-year-old staff sergeant at Camp Courtney is suspected of raping the girl inside a car parked on a street by a park in Chatan on Sunday night.
The suspect, identified as Tyrone Hadnott, was arrested Monday by local police and sent to prosecutors on Tuesday. He denies raping the girl, but has admitted to touching her in the vehicle, the police said.
Hadnott joined the Marines in 1996 and was stationed at Camp Courtney in October 2006 after serving at other bases in the United States and Japan.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
NAHA — Protests continued to spread Wednesday in Okinawa Prefecture in the wake of the alleged rape by a U.S. Marine of a 14-year-old girl over the weekend, while Gov Hirokazu Nakaima called for a fundamental review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
Two local assemblies each unanimously adopted a protest resolution and a statement against the U.S. and Japanese governments, while Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, an influential civic group that played a key role in a massive rally in 1995, sent a letter to U.S. President George W Bush.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer visited Nakaima at the Okinawa prefectural government to convey regret over the incident and asked the governor to deliver a letter expressing his sympathy to the girl and her family, according to prefectural government officials.
"It is truly regrettable that an incident like this could have occurred," Schieffer said in a statement to the governor and the people of Okinawa. "We want to assure you that we will do all we can to cooperate with you and the authorities here to ensure that justice is done in this matter." He was accompanied by Lt Gen Bruce Wright, the top commander of the U.S. forces in Japan.
In a written request, Nakaima urged the U.S. ambassador to ensure that the U.S. forces in Okinawa "will make every possible effort" to prevent a recurrence of such an incident "by enforcing stricter discipline as well as strengthening the education of the service members."
"We feel utterly unforgiving and extremely resentful over the incident," Nakaima said, calling the alleged rape a felonious crime. "It is deplorable that despite all our past requests, such an incident has occurred again."
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera, meanwhile, told Marine Lt Gen Richard Zilmer at the Foreign Ministry's office in the prefecture that the U.S. military's conventional measures to control service members are "insufficient."
"The U.S. side has so far restricted outings from bases, but the incident occurred in a different situation," Onodera told a press conference after the meeting, referring to the fact that the arrested Marine lives outside the base.
Zilmer, who heads the U.S. military in Okinawa, was quoted as replying that he would tell senior base officials to deal with the situation, such as by reviewing education programs for soldiers.
The incident would have an unignorable impact on the U.S. military realignment in Japan and the U.S. side is well aware of that, Onodera said.
In the resolutions and statements adopted in respective impromptu sessions, the assemblies of the town of Chatan, where the alleged rape occurred Sunday night, and the city of Okinawa, where the Marine allegedly met the girl, called for preventive measures, an apology and compensation for the victim.
The Okinawa city assembly denounced the incident as "absolutely impermissible," while the Chatan town assembly said no effects can be seen from disciplinary and other measures taken after past incidents involving U.S. soldiers and that local people are "exposed to fear."
In a prefectural assembly session, Nakaima said, "In order to resolve various issues pertaining to U.S. bases, mere improved operations of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, under which discretion is entrusted to the U.S. side, are insufficient and a drastic review is necessary."
The women's civic group called for an apology and compensation in the letter to Bush, while stressing the need to provide psychological support for children who have been victims of violence by U.S. military personnel.
The group also called for strict punishment of the suspect and for overseeing U.S. military personnel living outside bases.
In 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa, the group called for protest activities at a press conference three days after the incident came to light.
The group and two other organizations of women successively held protest rallies which eventually coalesced into a single mass demonstration. The protest moves led Japan and the United States to agree the following year to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station and to vacate some other U.S. military facilities in Okinawa.
Uncertainties remain over whether the latest incident will head in the same direction as in 1995.
Suzuyo Takazato, a former Naha assembly member who belongs to the women's group, said, "Things were not planned from the beginning to move that way in 1995."
In the latest case, a 38-year-old staff sergeant at Camp Courtney is suspected of raping the girl inside a car parked on a street by a park in Chatan on Sunday night.
The suspect, identified as Tyrone Hadnott, was arrested Monday by local police and sent to prosecutors on Tuesday. He denies raping the girl, but has admitted to touching her in the vehicle, the police said.
Hadnott joined the Marines in 1996 and was stationed at Camp Courtney in October 2006 after serving at other bases in the United States and Japan.
© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
Understanding Japan Through Its Cartoons
February 13, 2008
What kind of world do we live in when the Japan Society dedicates three months to "The Genius of Japanese Lacquer" and only four days to its amazing "Dawn of Japanese Animation" film series? Between today and Saturday, the Society will present dozens of short animated Japanese films made in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s for the first time in America, with English subtitles.
Many of the films will be accompanied by the live narration of Midori Sawato, Japan's most renowned benshi (live narrator), giving them the feel of loopy bedtime stories. Each day of the retrospective is devoted to a different genre, capped by a similarly themed live-action movie: Wednesday night is dedicated to "Chambara Action & Adventure"; "Horror & Comedy" unspools on Thursday; "Propaganda" is set for Friday, and on Saturday, it's all "Music & Dance."
Though animation arrived in Japan in 1907, Japan Society's series picks up with the second wave of animators. Japanese animation embodied the spirit of the Taisho era, when Japan was sucking up trends and ideas — two of them being socialism and animation — from overseas, then custom fitting them to Japanese culture.
The shorts in this series exhibit the same fascination with anthropomorphic animals that Walt Disney and Max Fleischer had, leavened with a near-pathological obsession with tanukis. These shape-shifting raccoon dogs are prototypical slackers, living only to eat, drink, and slap their enormous bellies like drums while driving everyone bananas. They're relatively harmless, however, which makes the ending of "Danemon's Monster Hunt at Shojoji" (1935) even more bloodcurdling, as the titular hero unmasks them as the monsters haunting the local spook house, then grabs a couple, bellowing, "Tanuki soup tonight!" The similarly hyperactive "Hatanosuke and the Haunted House" runs only 77 seconds, but it, too, ends with its hero giggling, "Raccoon dogs were the monsters!" before heading off, presumably, to roast one.
In the years following World War I, Japanese animators made up their own rules. They were technicians first, not storytellers, so they stole folktales and popular songs to use as frameworks for their films. They certainly weren't above stealing from American movies; Mickey Mouse goblins with spaghetti necks and Betty Boop geishas who transform into rotting zombies make appearances in the films on offer.
But Japanese animation speaks its own language. During the same time, American animation was preoccupied with movement, placing an emphasis on squash and stretch. Animated bodies changed shape like rubber, their wiggly arms and pliable bodies bending and distorting before snapping back into shape. Ballet was a major source of inspiration for American animators, with its focus on continual fluid movement and the flexibility of the dancers' bodies. Japanese animation, by contrast, was influenced by Japanese dance, nihon buyo, which focuses on the stillness between movements rather than the movements themselves. The result is a quieter, less mobile school of animation. The legacy of Japan's classical visual arts, in which balance and symmetry are more important than perspective and depth, lent a flat, graphic quality to its animation, the result being a completely unique filmmaking vocabulary.
The director who used it most eloquently was Yasuji Murata. His earliest film in the series, "The Stolen Lump" (1929), is a stunningly beautiful series of simple line drawings that employ a relaxed sense of life — a far cry from the hectic American animations of the time. "Our Baseball Match" (1931) demonstrates a beautiful economy of line in depicting a precisely detailed baseball game between a team of rabbits and a team of tanukis. The characters are missing the rounded, child-friendly shapes of American cartoons, and are portrayed instead with the straightforward economy of a James Thurber drawing.
Many of the shorts in this series are little more than pointless, herky-jerky vignettes designed to show off the latest technical trick, but Murata (1896–1966) designed the movements of his cartoon creatures to betray their psychology. "The Bat" (1930) depicts a war among the different animal species, and we recognize turtles, mice, cats, and pigs not because they're drawn to look like those animals but because they fight, run, and talk like we'd imagine these animals would. While other animators were doing little more than frantically jumping their interchangeable cutouts through increasingly elaborate hoops, Murata could hold his audience's attention by sitting two dogs down to have a drink. The fascination stemmed from the fact that they moved and interacted with one another as humans presumably would.
Unfortunately, the relatively liberal Taisho era ended in 1926 and animation slowly had the life choked out of it by Japanese nationalism. Cartoons instead became a delivery vehicle for military propaganda, instilling in children the belief that other, weaker countries populated by helpless seals needed Japan's wise dogs and monkeys to fly over and save them from invading eagles. The animation in Japan Society's series chronicles the last gasps of true creativity in Japanese animation before the invasion of China in 1937 and the long march to World War II. With that in mind, it's refreshing to watch these movies, which remind us that, regardless of time and place, a samurai fighting an octopus will always be funny.
What kind of world do we live in when the Japan Society dedicates three months to "The Genius of Japanese Lacquer" and only four days to its amazing "Dawn of Japanese Animation" film series? Between today and Saturday, the Society will present dozens of short animated Japanese films made in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s for the first time in America, with English subtitles.
Many of the films will be accompanied by the live narration of Midori Sawato, Japan's most renowned benshi (live narrator), giving them the feel of loopy bedtime stories. Each day of the retrospective is devoted to a different genre, capped by a similarly themed live-action movie: Wednesday night is dedicated to "Chambara Action & Adventure"; "Horror & Comedy" unspools on Thursday; "Propaganda" is set for Friday, and on Saturday, it's all "Music & Dance."
Though animation arrived in Japan in 1907, Japan Society's series picks up with the second wave of animators. Japanese animation embodied the spirit of the Taisho era, when Japan was sucking up trends and ideas — two of them being socialism and animation — from overseas, then custom fitting them to Japanese culture.
The shorts in this series exhibit the same fascination with anthropomorphic animals that Walt Disney and Max Fleischer had, leavened with a near-pathological obsession with tanukis. These shape-shifting raccoon dogs are prototypical slackers, living only to eat, drink, and slap their enormous bellies like drums while driving everyone bananas. They're relatively harmless, however, which makes the ending of "Danemon's Monster Hunt at Shojoji" (1935) even more bloodcurdling, as the titular hero unmasks them as the monsters haunting the local spook house, then grabs a couple, bellowing, "Tanuki soup tonight!" The similarly hyperactive "Hatanosuke and the Haunted House" runs only 77 seconds, but it, too, ends with its hero giggling, "Raccoon dogs were the monsters!" before heading off, presumably, to roast one.
In the years following World War I, Japanese animators made up their own rules. They were technicians first, not storytellers, so they stole folktales and popular songs to use as frameworks for their films. They certainly weren't above stealing from American movies; Mickey Mouse goblins with spaghetti necks and Betty Boop geishas who transform into rotting zombies make appearances in the films on offer.
But Japanese animation speaks its own language. During the same time, American animation was preoccupied with movement, placing an emphasis on squash and stretch. Animated bodies changed shape like rubber, their wiggly arms and pliable bodies bending and distorting before snapping back into shape. Ballet was a major source of inspiration for American animators, with its focus on continual fluid movement and the flexibility of the dancers' bodies. Japanese animation, by contrast, was influenced by Japanese dance, nihon buyo, which focuses on the stillness between movements rather than the movements themselves. The result is a quieter, less mobile school of animation. The legacy of Japan's classical visual arts, in which balance and symmetry are more important than perspective and depth, lent a flat, graphic quality to its animation, the result being a completely unique filmmaking vocabulary.
The director who used it most eloquently was Yasuji Murata. His earliest film in the series, "The Stolen Lump" (1929), is a stunningly beautiful series of simple line drawings that employ a relaxed sense of life — a far cry from the hectic American animations of the time. "Our Baseball Match" (1931) demonstrates a beautiful economy of line in depicting a precisely detailed baseball game between a team of rabbits and a team of tanukis. The characters are missing the rounded, child-friendly shapes of American cartoons, and are portrayed instead with the straightforward economy of a James Thurber drawing.
Many of the shorts in this series are little more than pointless, herky-jerky vignettes designed to show off the latest technical trick, but Murata (1896–1966) designed the movements of his cartoon creatures to betray their psychology. "The Bat" (1930) depicts a war among the different animal species, and we recognize turtles, mice, cats, and pigs not because they're drawn to look like those animals but because they fight, run, and talk like we'd imagine these animals would. While other animators were doing little more than frantically jumping their interchangeable cutouts through increasingly elaborate hoops, Murata could hold his audience's attention by sitting two dogs down to have a drink. The fascination stemmed from the fact that they moved and interacted with one another as humans presumably would.
Unfortunately, the relatively liberal Taisho era ended in 1926 and animation slowly had the life choked out of it by Japanese nationalism. Cartoons instead became a delivery vehicle for military propaganda, instilling in children the belief that other, weaker countries populated by helpless seals needed Japan's wise dogs and monkeys to fly over and save them from invading eagles. The animation in Japan Society's series chronicles the last gasps of true creativity in Japanese animation before the invasion of China in 1937 and the long march to World War II. With that in mind, it's refreshing to watch these movies, which remind us that, regardless of time and place, a samurai fighting an octopus will always be funny.
Record of postwar fatalities and sex crimes caused by US military in Okinawa
Here is a short timeline of fatal crimes, incidents and sex attacks that members of the United States military forces have committed in Okinawa since the end of World War II in 1945.
* September 1955: An American military member rapes and kills a 6-year-old girl in Kadena.
* June 1959: A U.S. fighter jet crashes into Miyamori Elementary School in Ishikawa, killing 17, including 11 children.
* June 1965: A trailer falls from a U.S. military plane during training in Yomitan, landing on a girl and killing her.
* July 1966: An American serviceman kills a woman in Kin.
* May 1968: An American serviceman rapes and kills a woman on the side of the road in Yomitan.
* February 1969: An American serviceman kills a woman in Koza.
* December 1970: A U.S. military member's car crash sparks rioting in Koza with citizens torching over 70 U.S. military vehicles.
* April 1972: An American serviceman kills a woman in Kitanakagusuku.
* August 1972: An American military member kills a woman in Ginowan.
* December 1972: An American serviceman kills a woman in Koza.
* March 1973: An American serviceman kills a female restaurant worker in Koza.
* April 1973: An American service member is involved in a fatal tank accident in Kin.
* October 1974: An American military member kills a woman in Nago.
* May 1995: An American serviceman kills a woman in Ginowan.
* September 1995: Three U.S. military members abduct an elementary schoolgirl in the northern part of the prefecture, keeping her captive in their car before gang raping her. The crime sparks tremendous anti-base sentiment within the prefecture and anti-base rallies are held throughout Okinawa in October.
* October 1998: A U.S. Marine kills a schoolgirl in a hit-and-run in Kitanakagusuku.
* July 2000: A U.S. Marine breaks into an Okinawa apartment, performing indecent acts on the junior high schoolgirl sleeping inside.
* June 2001: A U.S. military member rapes a woman in her 20s in Chatan.
* May 2003: A U.S. Marine rapes a 19-year-old teenager in Kin.
* July 2005: An American serviceman indecently assaults an elementary schoolgirl in Okinawa.
* February 2008: A U.S. Marine is arrested for raping a junior high schoolgirl in Okinawa.
（Mainichi Japan） February 13, 2008
* September 1955: An American military member rapes and kills a 6-year-old girl in Kadena.
* June 1959: A U.S. fighter jet crashes into Miyamori Elementary School in Ishikawa, killing 17, including 11 children.
* June 1965: A trailer falls from a U.S. military plane during training in Yomitan, landing on a girl and killing her.
* July 1966: An American serviceman kills a woman in Kin.
* May 1968: An American serviceman rapes and kills a woman on the side of the road in Yomitan.
* February 1969: An American serviceman kills a woman in Koza.
* December 1970: A U.S. military member's car crash sparks rioting in Koza with citizens torching over 70 U.S. military vehicles.
* April 1972: An American serviceman kills a woman in Kitanakagusuku.
* August 1972: An American military member kills a woman in Ginowan.
* December 1972: An American serviceman kills a woman in Koza.
* March 1973: An American serviceman kills a female restaurant worker in Koza.
* April 1973: An American service member is involved in a fatal tank accident in Kin.
* October 1974: An American military member kills a woman in Nago.
* May 1995: An American serviceman kills a woman in Ginowan.
* September 1995: Three U.S. military members abduct an elementary schoolgirl in the northern part of the prefecture, keeping her captive in their car before gang raping her. The crime sparks tremendous anti-base sentiment within the prefecture and anti-base rallies are held throughout Okinawa in October.
* October 1998: A U.S. Marine kills a schoolgirl in a hit-and-run in Kitanakagusuku.
* July 2000: A U.S. Marine breaks into an Okinawa apartment, performing indecent acts on the junior high schoolgirl sleeping inside.
* June 2001: A U.S. military member rapes a woman in her 20s in Chatan.
* May 2003: A U.S. Marine rapes a 19-year-old teenager in Kin.
* July 2005: An American serviceman indecently assaults an elementary schoolgirl in Okinawa.
* February 2008: A U.S. Marine is arrested for raping a junior high schoolgirl in Okinawa.
（Mainichi Japan） February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Japan PM calls Okinawa rape case "unforgivable"
Feb 12, 2008
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Top Japanese officials on Tuesday deplored the suspected rape of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine on the southern island of Okinawa, an episode with echoes of a 1995 incident that jolted the U.S.-Japan security alliance.
Tyrone Hadnott, based at Camp Courtney marine base on the island, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of raping the schoolgirl when the two were in a car on Sunday.
Japanese media said the 38-year-old had denied raping the girl but acknowledged forcing her to kiss him.
"It is unforgivable," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told a parliamentary panel in his first public comments on the latest incident on Okinawa, host to a huge U.S. military presence.
"It has happened over and over again in the past and I take it as a grave case."
Japan hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops, most of them in Okinawa, where many residents have long resented bearing what they see as an unfair share of the burden for the bilateral security alliance, a pillar of Japan's post-war diplomacy.
U.S. military bases in Japan have long caused complaints from local residents about crime, noise and accidents.
In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen sparked huge protests in Okinawa, triggering calls for the U.S. military to leave the island and raising questions about the security alliance itself.
"It is truly deplorable that an American serviceman was arrested for these allegations despite the fact that major incidents have occurred in the past and the government has repeatedly urged the U.S. side to ... take preventative measures," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.
U.S. officials have responded quickly to mitigate fallout from the case, which comes as Tokyo tries to persuade Okinawa residents to accept a plan to relocate the Marine's Futenma Air Station from the densely populated central Okinawa city of Ginowan to the coastal city of Nago.
"Obviously, the U.S. military is cooperating with the Okinawan authorities who are investigating this," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington, adding that the Marine was presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"But in any serious allegation like this we take it very seriously and are cooperating fully with the local authorities," he said, echoing comments by U.S. military officials in Japan.
Whitman said the incident should not affect U.S.-Japan security ties.
The Futenma base move, agreed by Tokyo and Washington in 2006, is a linchpin of a broader accord to rejig U.S. troops in Japan and is a prerequisite for moving about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Japanese media say Nago officials have accepted the relocation plan in principle but have opposed some details.
(Additional reporting by Teruaki Ueno; Editing by David Fogarty)
U.S. warship Nimitz makes port call in Sasebo
Feb 12, 2008
SASEBO (Kyodo) The U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz made its first port call at Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Monday.
Local organizations protest the port call of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz at Saebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.
The 91,487-ton Nimitz is the ninth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to stop at Sasebo port. The last such port call came in February last year and was made by the USS Ronald Reagan.
The carrier, with a crew of about 4,800, is scheduled to be docked at the port in southwestern Japan city for five days to provide the crew with rest and recreation and replenish supplies.
Local labor organizations and other civic groups opposed to the vessel's visit staged rallies on some 20 boats and on land as the carrier entered port.
Rear Adm. Terry Blake, commander of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, said the vessel is making the port call to serve the security of the western Pacific Ocean.
While declining to say whether the vessel has nuclear arms aboard, he said he understands the sentiment of the Japanese people against such arms.
The Nimitz, commissioned in 1975, left its home port in San Diego on Jan. 24, the U.S Navy said, adding that the vessel will operate in the western Pacific after leaving Sasebo, while the diesel-powered carrier USS Kitty Hawk, based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, undergoes scheduled maintenance.
Dolphin slaughter brings charges from both sides
Feb 12, 2008
From Kyung Lah
CNN
TAIJI, Japan (CNN) -- Ric O'Barry sometimes dresses as a woman or wears a large surgical mask to disguise his Western identity on trips to spots overlooking the ocean.
He prowls the cliffs near Taiji, Japan, with a video camera, hoping to catch fishermen doing something that appalls him: catching dolphins.
"This here is ground zero for the largest slaughter of dolphins on planet Earth," says O'Barry, who trained five dolphins to play "Flipper" on the TV series of that name. "It's absolutely barbaric, and it needs to stop."
Fishermen hunt dolphins almost every day in Taiji, a town of about 3,000 in southwestern Japan that juts into the Pacific Ocean. Watch fishermen catch dolphins »
Locals know that they offend Western sensibilities by eating dolphins, but they say it's a tradition hundreds of years old. And they say outsiders have no more right to tell them to stop eating dolphins than they would have to demand that Westerners stop slaughtering chickens or cows.
"I know there are many different ways of thinking in different societies, but for us who've been eating this for a long time ... it's an awkward thing to be criticized for," says Kayoko Tanaka, a retired middle school teacher. "I either fry dolphin meat or turn it into a stew."
O'Barry says the dolphins face a cruel fate.
"It takes a very long time to die. They bleed to death. And some of them are dragged in the boats with hooks while they're still alive," he says. "Many of them are gutted while they're still alive."
To some puzzled people in rural Japan, the question comes down to this: What's the difference between killing and eating a dolphin, and killing and eating a fish? Or a chicken? Or a cow?
Most Japanese do not eat dolphins -- it's common in a few fishing villages -- but the government respects the rights of people in towns such as Taiji, says Joji Morishita, the international negotiator for Japan's Fisheries Agency.
Many Japanese consider the deer a sacred messenger from the gods, he says, but they would never suggest that people in other parts of the world stop venturing into the woods on a quest for venison.
"We don't like to play God to say, 'This animal is just for food, and this is not,' " he says. "Because we know, nation to nation, we have totally different ideas."
That's obvious in the growing dispute between Australia and Japan over whale hunting.
Japanese ships crisscross southern oceans each winter to capture and kill up to 1,000 whales. Whaling is allowed under international law when done for scientific reasons, which Japan claims as the legal basis for its hunts.
Legal justifications aside, however, the whale hunts offend many people in Australia, where new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has turned up the political pressure on Japan.
His government has dispatched a customs ship to monitor and videotape the whalers. And Rudd says Australia could even file charges against Japan in an international court to try to stop the whaling.
In Taiji, the fishermen are well aware of the Western sentiment that motivates whaling opponents. They realize the danger to their way of life that can come with prying cameras from other countries.
When CNN trained its cameras on fishermen gutting freshly killed dolphins, the fishermen erected tarps to obstruct the view.
Representatives of the Taiji Fishermen's Union declined requests for an on-camera interview. So did the town's mayor and several others. And O'Barry says he's gotten into a few shouting matches with fishermen, who resent him and his camera.
So what does O'Barry say to their claim that he has no right to tell them to abandon a tradition that has flourished in their corner of the world for more than 400 years?
"If someone came to my hometown and told me what to do, what to eat, I'd be outraged," he says. "But that's not going to stop me from doing it. I mean, tradition? It used to be traditional for women not to vote. So do we keep that going because it's traditional and cultural? Of course not."
Complicating the debate are findings suggesting that eating dolphins may not be healthful. The Japanese government said in 2005 that bottlenose dolphin meat contains 12 times more mercury than bluefin tuna. High levels of mercury in fish can cause health problems in pregnant women and young children.
A city council member in Taiji, Junichiro Yamashita, grew so concerned about mercury levels that he persuaded locals schools to stop serving dolphin meat at lunch. He even plucked some of his hair, sent it off for testing and discovered that it contained seven times as much mercury as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers acceptable.
The mercury findings have not swayed Masaru Matsushita, a Taiji fish dealer. He says that dolphin activists like O'Barry see only their own needs without understanding the culture in his town.
"I understand that they think the dolphin in a cute animal, and I agree they're cute doing performances," he says, "but it is our culture to eat dolphins.
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