Man arrested for assaulting U.S. Marine in Kanagawa

Saturday 10th January, 11:25 AM JST

KANAGAWA —

A man was arrested in Ayase City on Friday, accused of assaulting a U.S. Marine from Naval Air Facility Atsugi at around 11 p.m. on Jan 2. Yu Saiki, a 28-year-old resident of Ayase City and president of a building company, is accused of punching and kicking the 28-year-old private, breaking a bone in his face that will take one month to heal.

Police said the private was returning to the Naval Air Facility Atsugi after drinking with colleagues, when he realized he had lost his sunglasses. He headed back and was searching for them, when Saiki called out to him from outside his home and claimed the Marine had hit his dog, and kicked and punched the private, police said.

Saiki said the Marine had hit him first, but security cameras captured footage of the incident which showed the Marine never hit Saiki.

News reports

Latest 15 of 61 Total Comments Show All

TheguyNextdoor at 10:35 AM JST - 12th January

Got'em coach!! Lets here you say its military guys fault now.......the man is watching you too Japan!!!!!
TheguyNextdoor at 11:01 AM JST - 12th January

meant to say hear.
Nessie at 11:35 AM JST - 12th January

Starts with "y". Ends with "pants on fire".
CMEANDU26 at 10:54 AM JST - 13th January

Happy to hear that this marine did the right thing. If he would have protected his self by fight back he would have gotten in trouble. Gotta watch out for the camera. The Japanese guy wasn't provoked. Didn't matter if he had some bad expirence. He was wrong and it was caught on camera. Time to open up the bank account and pay up.
PepinGalarga at 10:19 PM JST - 13th January

next time there is a confrontation, make sure the cameras are around, if not, then walk over to the range of one, then let the guy make the first move. with proper training, serious damage can be avoided, and then you got "carte blanche" to get some return hits in.

if this guys lives near the base, and they all know who he is, i am sure it will not be the end of the story...
OssanAmerica at 01:37 AM JST - 14th January

This story is typical of the Japanese society being a bunch of drunks >and violent people. That and being prejudiced against those that do not >look japanese.

No one judges an entire society on the actions of one individual.
AlfGarnett at 01:46 AM JST - 14th January

OssanAmerica lives in a Japanese Utopia that nobody else has ever seen. hahahaha.

Loads of Japanese is being violent these days, and the society is in a shambles. No wonder this type of crime happnes often like.
OssanAmerica at 01:47 AM JST - 14th January

Either this Marine should be commended for his retraint. Or, he was so drunk that he was out of it. Either way, the J-guy is clearly in the wrong and it wouldn't be surprising at all if he were a trouble maker among the locals as well. Hope they bust his ass.
holyman at 07:56 AM JST - 14th January

no marine wants his ass kicked..could this be real..if so kick ass marine..threat level delta
mindovermatter at 03:33 PM JST - 14th January

Did any of you guys actually see this video...?

You guys are making a lot of assumptions...

But just look at the guys name, "Yu Saiki," and he's a 28 yr old president of a company.... He's a yakuza scum bag... Although, I know that area fairly well, I don't remember too many Yakuza hang-out places... Unless the incident actually happened in Yamato, in which case, there's tons of them...

And they referenced his rank as a pfc, which more than likely means he wasn't a squid. There are still some marines stationed in Atsugi, I imagine not many pfc's though... He probably worked at comfairwestpac, (or what-ever the new politically correct name is now...?) marines have a bunch of odd staff positions scattered at various bases regardless of which service, even Yokota.
jwills79 at 06:46 AM JST - 15th January

Mindovermatter,

Where the Japanese guy lives doesn't mean he is Yakuza or not. Most don't do business where they live. Why s*&^ where you eat, drink and sleep? If you look at past cases of high ranking criminal arrests, they usually lived in nice regular or well-off areas.

I wouldn't be surprise if his parents were there.
unscrejects at 04:13 PM JST - 15th January

Tezbo: You should be seeing the heroics of this man's deed - ie not fighting back. Far too many Marines and other service personnel get arrested in Japan for defending themselves yet nobody believes it. Thank god this guy's training worked - unlike in the guys you seem to think he should have emulated. A good marine defends the integrity of the unit and not his own dignity.
jwills79 at 06:24 PM JST - 15th January

unscrejects,

I understand you comments. I applaud the guy if it was as you say. I also think he was little too wasted to defend himself. I suspect a little of both. I also think if was attacked he has the right to defend himself. It is universal rule "Self Preservation", Fight or Flight or whatever. Luckily, he was in the right and was able to prove it.

On a sidenote, some of the Yak groups are quite organized. The smaller ones especially to survive. Some groups do have scheduled training sessions including sparring. So, some of them are capable to open up a can of Whip A@#! Never underestimate your opponent.
mindovermatter at 05:53 PM JST - 16th January

jwills79

They sure the hell do, maybe not all of them, but they have "their" neighborhoods... They don't just pick any old spot or area and decide they're going live there... They do as much business from their home (offices) as they do driving around collecting protection money...

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know what kinds of places these low-life scumbags live and work, and Ayase sure isn't one of them.

If you've been around Japan a little, you should know, that the locals know "where" these areas area.... Just as sure as they know that "Yoshiwara" is the Yakuza run red-light district, people in Kanagawa also know that Yamato is famous for housing lots of Yakuza...

Have you ever even walked around some of these areas...?

It doesn't take much common sense to know what kinds of homes these people have...

So, some of them are capable to open up a can of Whip A@#! Never underestimate your opponent.

Definitely, never underestimate your opponent, but there's also a saying:

know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles

And my experience has taught me:

If you are going to slay monsters, be careful not to become one in the process.

But it's so damn FUN!
jwills79 at 09:15 PM JST - 16th January

Mindovermatter,

Actually, I have walked around a lot of those places. Both here and back home. Grew up in one. How about you? I understand what are the rough parts of town. My point is even though they may set up shop in the bad area. They may be there all day everyday. Most of the guys may be from the area.

My point is those who have positions in the gangster business don't necessary have to live there despite being there 24/7. The higher up you are the farther away you live from your s%&t. Or you may just come from better off family and get caught up in it. The smart groups are trying to distance themselves from the stereotypical images of the Yakuza. The groups who are now forming corporations, wearing company pins on their suits and not getting tattoos. Lower levels usually still live in the trenches as well as smaller groups. There are also some exceptions like old-school guys but not all of them. So it would make since for the more modern gangster to present the image of a normal business man living in a regular neighborhood. With this they can provide a normal life for their family. Move through society unnoticed and not be frowned upon.

Moderator: Back on topic please.