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.