It has been a while since GI crime has been an issue on Okinawa, but the disclosure of these two sexual assault cases has given the island’s left wing government plenty to complain to USFJ about:
The U.S. military has yet to announce new restrictions on troops stationed in Japan despite calls from local authorities after two service members were indicted for alleged sexual crimes on Okinawa. “There is currently no update right now in terms of any changes to liberty policy at the moment,” Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright, spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.
Tensions have escalated on Okinawa, where the U.S. military stations approximately 30,000 service members, more than 50% of its troops in Japan, following disclosures in late June of the two indictments by the Naha Public Prosecutors Office. The commanding generals of Okinawa-based III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Installations Pacific directed their commanders to “reinforce their expectations of standards and conduct across the force,” III MEF spokesman 1st Lt. Owen Hitchcock said by email Monday.
Stars and Stripes
You can read more at the link, but as I have said before, the expectation of zero crime from US servicemembers is unrealisitic. There is always going to be some crime that happens, what matters is how low is the crime rate and is it being properly prosecuted? I have seen no indications of a high crime rate on Okinawa from US troops and clearly cases are being prosecuted as these latest incidents show.
Japanese vending machines are great and they are about to get an upgrade:
The ubiquitous Japanese vending machine is keeping its place on U.S. military bases, despite a nationwide round-up of obsolete machines. Many of the 4.1 million vending machines across Japan, each worth around $13,000, will be replaced this summer when Japan rolls out a new set of bank notes featuring holograms to stop counterfeiting, according to a New York Times report June 8. Some older machines will not accept the new currency. The change-out will not affect most vending machines on U.S. military bases from Misawa Air Base in the north to Marine Corps camps in the south, according to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and the Navy Exchange. They and local contractors maintain and operate 3,800 machines.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but I wish the U.S. could have as many convenient vending machines as Japan. However, the high crime rate compared to Japan makes it impossible in the U.S.
After the U.S. Presidential debate debacle, the ROK and Japan are probably accelerating the institutionalizing of various parts of their combined cooperation:
Former U.S. President Donald Trump caused friction with both allies during his time in office by demanding greater payment for their hosting of U.S. troops while holding one-on-one meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Under Biden, Washington is seeking to solidify its system of alliances, both with increasingly sophisticated exercises and diplomatic agreements, Graham said. “It’s obviously a U.S. attempt to try and mesh their alliances as positively as possible, not just given the challenge of their adversaries, but also the uncertainty around a second Trump administration,” he said. “They’re trying to institutionalize as many of these habits of cooperation while they can.” Tensions with North Korea are at their highest point in years, with the pace of Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs intensifying, despite heavy international sanctions.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
The Korean left is trying to turn a data leak dispute involving Naver’s Line app service in Japan into a major bilateral political issue:
Korean politicians are criticizing Seoul’s passive response to Tokyo’s apparent pressure on Korean tech giant Naver to sell its stakes in LY Corp., the Tokyo-headquartered operator of mobile messaging app Line.
They, from both ruling and opposition blocs, called the Korean government’s diplomacy “miserable” as it has not made any response while Japan is trying to “extort” technologies of the Korea-developed app, which has approximately 180 million active users in Japan and Southeast Asian nations.
Their criticism follows the Japanese government’s administrative guidance to LY to review its capital relationship with Naver after a massive data leak of user information.
The guidance is believed to be an apparent pressure to lower Naver’s control over LY. SoftBank, which jointly owns LY with Naver, said it is talking with the Korean company about controlling the joint venture.
Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who serve on the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, held a press conference Sunday, calling for a National Assembly-level response to Japan’s attempt to “extort Line” from Naver.
“The Japanese government’s actions are a clear violation of national interests and an anti-market outrage. It is time for the National Assembly to do its job. We demand that relevant standing committees be convened immediately and the Assembly deal with the matter,” Reps. Jo Seoung-lae and Lee Yong-sun said.
“The Yoon Suk Yeol government should no longer turn a blind eye and respond proactively by upgrading this situation to a major diplomatic issue between the two countries.”
They also said the Korean government should take a strong stance, including summoning the Japanese ambassador to Korea.
Last week, the DPK called the Korean government’s response “a diplomatic disaster,” saying, “How long must we endure the dismal diplomacy that cannot even say a word of protest against Japan’s effort to take Line from Naver?”
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but what we don’t know is what the Yoon administration may be quietly trying to do in discussions with the Japanese side to advocate for Naver.
If Jimmy Kimmel is shocked by how clean Japan is, he would probably have a heart attack if he visited Singapore:
The late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said observing hygiene standards in Japan drastically changed his perspective of cleanliness in the US and that he’d “never felt dirtier” in his home country.
Kimmel said Tuesday evening on an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that before going to Japan on a seven-day family trip, he thought the US was “pretty buttoned-up” despite having areas for improvement.
“But now, after traveling to Japan, I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, is a filthy and disgusting country,” he said.
Kimmel added that he was blown away, in particular, by Japan’s bathrooms.
“Not only did I not encounter a single dirty bathroom, the bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here,” Kimmel said.
The TV star lauded the loos at Japanese truck stops, which he said were “cleaner than Jennifer Garner’s teeth.”
“It’s like the whole country is Disneyland, and we’re living at Six Flags. I’ve been home 36 hours. I’ve never felt dirtier,” he said.
Kimmel added that he was impressed by how Tokyo residents didn’t litter despite the lack of public trash cans, which were removed by local authorities in the wake of the 1995 sarin gas attacks.
“They’re like, OK, no more trash cans. Everybody clean up after yourselves. And guess what? They clean up after themselves,” Kimmel said.
“We are like hogs compared to the Japanese. I can’t imagine what they must think of us,” Kimmel said. “Oh, the garbage people. Yes, the Americans. Garbage. Yes.”
Yahoo News
You can read more at the link, but I think his criticism is mostly correct, but in most smaller towns in the U.S. I still find to be very clean, but larger cities due to all the homeless, drugs, and crime have turned into absolute dumps. I believe if homelessness, drugs, and crime issues are improved the cleanliness of cities would improve with it.
It appears to be more about domestic politics in Japan than actually making any breakthrough with North Korea:
Why is Kishida so interested in holding a summit with Kim? According to expert analysis, Kishida needs a diplomatic breakthrough to change the bleak trajectory of his premiership, which has been plagued by domestic scandals. The approval rating of his Cabinet dipped to a dismal 20.1 percent in February 2024, right when public discussion of a Kim-Kishida summit ramped up. North Korea seems to agree with this analysis; Kim Yo Jong’s March statement claimed that Kishida was not serious about improving Japan-North Korea ties but only seeking a summit in a “bid for popularity.”
Another potential motivation for Kishida is that inter-Korean relations are facing serious challenges during South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s term, and North Korea-U.S. relations are relatively deadlocked. Meanwhile, the threat from a series of North Korean ballistic missile tests, particularly the April 2 test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead, has pressured the United States and its allies.
Japan, as one of the United States’ traditional allies, intends to take advantage of this chaos as a chance to showcase its “bridging role” in terms of conflict mediation. Kishida may hope to reinforce regional peace and stability, similar to South Korea’s efforts under former President Moon Jae-in.
The Diplomat
You can read more at the link, but North Korea has repeatedly said no to any summit with Japan that includes the abduction issue or missile tests. Those two issues are really the only thing the Japanese care to discuss with North Korea thus why there will be no summit.
It appears the Japanese government is seeing the economic benefits the ROK is receiving from their growing defense industry and wants to get their own piece of this growing market:
Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.
Stars and Stripes
You can read more at the link.
