A U.S. service member was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery after a Japanese woman’s body was discovered in a hotel in Okinawa, local officials said, describing the alleged killing as a “heinous” incident that prompted the Japanese government to lodge a protest with the United States.
Shinjiro Koizumi, the Japanese minister of defense, said a U.S. Marine lance corporal was arrested on Sunday after the woman’s body was found early on Saturday in Naha, the capital city of the Okinawa prefecture.
NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, identified the suspect as Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who was stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a base a few miles outside Naha. The broadcaster identified the alleged victim as Yagi Anna, 39, saying she was pronounced dead at the scene after being found at about 4:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the Okinawa Prefectural Police were investigating the incident as a murder.
Perfect time to finally expel the US military from Japan and end the occupation era.
It’s pretty incredible how you dorks would identify the motivation of say, Fox News blasting a case of a trans immigrant murdering a white woman 24/7 but can’t figure out why the Japanese media does the same thing with Okinawa, on a base that still exists not because of iMpeRiAliSm, the occupation treaty that ended the war Japan started being well over, but because Japan is terrified of China someday making them pay for their own historical crimes.
I was planning a trip to Japan recently and remember seeing warnings of “be careful where you go in Okinawa, especially if you’re an alone woman, because the American base is where all the rape happens”. I see I was right not to go to that area.
In my experience in the couple of times I’ve visited Okinawa, you barely see US service members. You will be mistaken for one if you’re not asian, which isn’t a great experience given what the locals have had to endure. There’s a definite tone shift when people realise you aren’t American. But unless you’re putting yourself in risky situations or seeking out service members, it’s as safe as anywhere else in Japan as a tourist.
But unless you’re putting yourself in risky situations or seeking out service members, it’s as safe as anywhere else in Japan as a tourist.
That’s so weird how this sentence could read the same way replacing “service members” with “yakuza”.
Like I didn’t think I’d see stattioned military in an allied country as “rarer than you think, but don’t go looking for them if you wanna stay safe.” Yikes.
It’s always exactly who you most expect
Yup. Sounds like something American soldiers would do. Just look at every war where everyday stationed soldiers did terrible things. As the Republican mom would say, “oh that’s just boys being boys”. Good old American values!! After they killed those school girls, I know they’ll do anything.
It feels like given the number of incidents Okinawa somehow has a particularly bad problem with US soldiers committing heinous crimes against the host population. But that doesn’t make sense, it would involve somehow promoting crime at that base or intentionally concentrating the bad apples there. Which means other bases are probably doing similar things, they just don’t get talked about as much.
Fucking marines…
US exports bad behavior while providing military security. Hooah!!
Japanese Century of Humiliation
I’m not going to apologize for American imperialism, but will point out that its benevolent compared to Japanese empire.
In Korea, the Japanese imposed a factory-farm system for rape. Unit 731 did things in China that would make an IDF officer puke in his boots.
Unit 731 did things in China that would make an IDF officer puke in his boots.
The IDF took notes.
Regardless, the Japanese of imperial era have been dead and buried for over 80 years. I’m not sure what the continuous US occupation of is southern most island does to rectify century old crimes.
the Japanese of imperial era have been dead and buried for over 80 years
The government has refused to apologize. Schools don’t say anything bad about imperial Japan. Every new years my local shrine hangs up the rising sun flag signed by all the local soldiers who were out commiting heinous acts in neighbouring countries. If you’ve ever visited Japan and stayed in an APA hotel, the owner is the Japanese equivalent of a Holocaust denier and has a book in the drawer of every room explaining Japan did nothing wrong. Even the Hiroshima peace museum starts its plea for pity with “somehow Japan found itself at war”. Not to mention government celebration of war criminals at Yasukuni.
Japan has a cultural problem acknowledging their wrongdoings during the war. Japanese people are now very pro-peace in general, but it’s a mistake to pretend the past can’t repeat if we don’t remember and understand it.
The government has refused to apologize. Schools don’t say anything bad about imperial Japan. Every new years my local shrine hangs up the rising sun flag signed by all the local soldiers who were out commiting heinous acts in neighbouring countries. If you’ve ever visited Japan and stayed in an APA hotel, the owner is the Japanese equivalent of a Holocaust denier and has a book in the drawer of every room explaining Japan did nothing wrong. Even the Hiroshima peace museum starts its plea for pity with “somehow Japan found itself at war”. Not to mention government celebration of war criminals at Yasukuni.
How has US occupation improved that?
What does this have to do with the US? You literally just claimed Japan has no responsibility to make amends for the war because:
the Japanese of imperial era have been dead and buried for over 80 years
Japan has no responsibility to make amends
No, I said the US occupation has no role in reforming Japan.
You two are both having independent conversations, you just happen to be replying to each other for some reason.
I’m responding to what they wrote…
I’m not going to apologize for American imperialism, but will point out that its benevolent compared to Japanese empire.
You do realize that this is literally American Imperialism apologetics?
Formally, the “But X was worse” apologetic argument is called the Fallacy of relative privation, less formally its called the “not as bad as argument” or “appeal to worse problems”, and informally (but most popularly) its known as whataboutism.
And its a very well known apologetic tactic.
Saying that you aren’t going to apologize for something, then using whataboutism is roughly akin to saying “im not a christian, but Jesus Christ is God”
It may not be your intent to apologize for American Imperialism, but that is more or less exactly what you are doing here.
If your goal is really to not apologize for American Imperialism, you need to learn and avoid the most common apologetics tactics because saying “I dont wanna do X” followed immediately by doing X just makes you sound either disingenuous or ignorant.
(Yes, the Japanese terrorism campaign in WWII was awful, but whataboutism isnt the way to bring it up).
Especially since everyone responsible in that era is long dead.
Might want to read up on the history of how America became a nation of mostly white European people to begin with.
I also assume you meant “be an apologist for”. Not “I’m not going to apologize for”.
Still, the “past bad thing” was so much worse than “current bad thing” is not helpful. It’s not at all helpful; and is literally used by the perpetrators of the current crimes to justify their actions through a false sense of moral superiority. “The most moral military” loves to do this all the time. Don’t do it for them.
There is no reason to “hand it to” the IDF or the US empire while describing the crimes of Japan. You can get a point across without doing that.
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