A single incident can shake Japan-U.S. alliance

A spring-like atmosphere fills the concourse of The Asahi Shimbun's Tokyo headquarters in Chuo Ward where an exhibition titled "Posters in imagination" by Yoko Yonezawa, an illustrator, is now under way. Her works are drawn like publicity posters that portray scenery in Paris.

Way down south in Okinawa Prefecture, spring has already given way to summer. The swimming season has been proclaimed open, and it makes me happy to be a citizen of a country that includes a semi-tropical region.

But while tourism is Okinawa's main industry, the special situation of this southernmost prefecture has forced a cruel and tragic history on its people. I am acutely reminded of this fact with the change of season.

A mass rally was held in Okinawa on Sunday to protest against a recent spate of crimes and accidents by U.S. troops. The size of the force in Okinawa is the biggest in the Far East. Disorder and violence on the part of U.S. military personnel show no sign of letting up. In the rain, members of the rally adopted a resolution, demanding that Tokyo and Washington understand the ire of the Okinawan people.

Shortly before that, a man on a police wanted list for a murder committed four days previously in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, stabbed eight people at a train station, killing one of them.

Crimes occur 24/7 around Japan, and those committed by U.S. service personnel are only a small part of the whole picture. Still, should Tokyo and Washington fail to act appropriately, there will be a further surge of public opinion questioning the presence of U.S. military bases in Japan.

In Yokosuka, a base city in Kanagawa Prefecture, a taxi driver was stabbed to death. A credit card left in the cab was traced to a sailor serving on a U.S. cruiser. The serviceman is now in the custody of the U.S. military. The U.S. Naval Forces Japan Commander promised full cooperation with Japanese law enforcement authorities, but how his words will translate into action remains to be seen.

Just as a single poster can change the atmosphere around it, a single incident can shake the Japan-U.S. alliance. Every time it happens, the unequal alliance comes under scrutiny.

But something is very amiss when every time Japanese shed tears, relations between the two countries become more decent.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 24 (IHT/Asahi: March 25,2008)