Okinawa police seize U.S. military vehicle over hit-and-run

Monday 09th November, 01:46 PM JST

NAHA —

Okinawa prefectural police seized a windshield-broken private vehicle of a U.S. military service person Monday in connection with the death of a man in a possible hit-and-run accident in the village of Yomitan.

Police said they are trying to identify the owner of the vehicle—a domestically produced white passenger car—whose ‘‘y’’ number plate shows it is privately owned by a U.S. military service person.

The vehicle was brought for repair to a garage about 3 kilometers southeast of the spot where the body of 66-year-old Masakazu Hokama was found bleeding from the head on Saturday evening, according to the police. He died of a broken neck, they said.

A man in plain clothes who was in his 20s, about 180 centimeters tall and who did not appear to be Japanese, drove the vehicle to the garage alone sometime between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, a witness said.

Hair was found on the car’s broken windshield and the police plan to conduct a DNA test to see whether it came off the deceased.

The car had the left half of its windshield smashed and its front section dented, but the man who brought it did not clarify what caused the damage, according to the witness.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano indicated that if a U.S. military service person indeed caused the deadly accident, it may have some impact on the issue of where to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps airfield in Okinawa Prefecture.

Crimes committed by service personnel and others related to the U.S. military have often triggered mass resentment in Okinawa against the presence on the relatively small southern island of the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan.

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Latest 15 of 53 Total Comments Show All

societymike at 08:27 AM JST - 10th November

So, last nights local Okinawa news said they have NOT found a car or any proof that it is a "Y" plate car. They said there has been no car turned into a "local shop". The went on to say, "speculation has mentioned the hit and run could have been done by a member of the military".

hmmm.... interesting. let's see, middle of night, no witnesses, the guy died, no car to be found..... MUST HAVE BEEN A GAIJIN!
kokorocloud at 08:37 AM JST - 10th November

societymike-- Thanks for the update.

This is a sad story all around.
sosareyes at 09:51 AM JST - 10th November

Why so much concern as to what is the nationality or ethnic background of the person that committed the crime. Let's just say that a person committed a crime an we need to bring him/her to justice. Anyone that put such emphasis the nationality or ethnicity of the individual is a bigot/racist. To use this incident for political purpose is ignorance and evil at best.
Squally at 10:52 AM JST - 10th November

Also, after going though and reading some of the replies on here, people really don't know what they're talking about. High as a kite? Instill discipline? Why don't we instill some discipline on the locals? Since they get caught drinking and driving more then military members.

Ignorance is bliss.

USNinJapan2, Wrong! If your spouse is a local she is command sponsored, but she is not SOFA. SOFA is what allows military members to reside in Japan without a visa. Locals don't need a visa to live in their own country. They tried to lock down the local spouses after the Hadnott incident.......that didn't last long. The US military CANNOT restrict a local spouse as if she is a SOFA member. They can bar them from base and pull their command sponsorship but that's about it.
Squally at 10:57 AM JST - 10th November

Aplphaape, Yes and E3 can own a car in Japan, as long as they're not in the marines. I would have to disagree with mindovermatter, I've seen plenty of E3s act responsible, more so then some of their higher ranking counter parts.

soryu, they don't know what branch the guy/gal belongs to yet. So you're jarhead remark is false, as of right now.
numbskull at 10:58 AM JST - 10th November

societymike, you are basically saying the whole article is a fabrication from start to finish. Was there really no car? I think it more likely they just determined that the car they found was unrelated to the accident.
newjapanese at 11:09 AM JST - 10th November

See this is why the US bases need to go, The Americans commits crimes against Japanese and think they can get away with it, because they think they are higher then Japanese. Relocate all U.S. bases to Guam and get the American Citizens to pay 100% of the Bill, their military they pay. Bye Bye USA glad to see you GO!

Moderator: Please stop posting inflammatory remarks.
societymike at 11:21 AM JST - 10th November

-- UPDATE --

Now Okinawa news says the police found a car owned by a US Navy man, it has a smashed windshield and blood on it. They are matching the DNA now.

newjapanese, I'm sorry you feel the need to be so mean. US Military people do NOT think they can get away with crimes. They seldom committ crimes despite what you claim. This guy will be punished and most likely it will be harder than the average Japanese citizen. It's just the nature of the situation.
gogogo at 11:23 AM JST - 10th November

Okinawamike: I'm not talking human nature I'm talking orders, sure it's not human to stop but under international law they can't stop and interact with Japanese citizens because they are officially not allowed too.
USNinJapan2 at 06:37 PM JST - 10th November

Squally

You need to recheck your facts. What a command can and cannot realistically do IRT command sponsorship is irrelevant. Legally, any spouse of any nationality who is command sponsored here is covered by the SOFA. IF A SPOUSE HOLDS A DOD-ISSUED DEPENDANT ID CARD THEY ARE A SOFA MEMBER, period. Only a SOFA member is legally permitted to operate a vehicle which has Y or A license plates on it. If the Japanese Police pulled over a Japanese citizen spouse with ID Card in a Y-plated vehicle they will treat him/her as a SOFA member, not a normal Japanese citizen. Also consider this, if a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) was conducted out of Japan by the State Dept today a command sponsored Japanese spouse will be forcefully relocated along with her sponsor and family. Likewise, because Japanese spouses of SOFA personnel are indeed SOFA themselves the Japanese authorities do not count them as part of the local civilian population and do not include them in any of their emergency or evacuation plans.
Squally at 12:00 AM JST - 11th November

No USnavyinJapan, you're facts are what's wrong, I had this same issue during the hadnott lockdown. Go look and read the actual SOFA regulations. There is a clause in there that states that the US government CANNOT restrict a local resident in their own country. I used to have the SOFA agreement saved to my hard disk with the clause bookmarked for proving old hats like yourself wrong but sadly I cannot find it, I'll keep looking. They can restrict base access and revoke command sponsorship, but they can't restrict anything else. Just like the military cannot keep depedants on base in the states, they can't do it over seas with local spouses. I know it's frustating for old hats like yourself to know that you can't have control over EVERYONE, oh well live with it.

Also, it's a common myth that a DODs id = SOFA, it does not. All it shows is that the holder is a dependant and, in a sense, command sponsered. I also find it funny that you mention NEO, that's a joke. In the event that things got that bad over here do you actually think a local spouse would rather run to the states instead of being with her family, even if bombs were falling? I had the conversation with my wife before and we had an agreement between oursleves that if things ever got that bad, I wouldn't have a problem with her staying behind to be with her family. After all, she still hold Japanese citizenship and yes, the Japanese government still counts her as a resident, even though she's currently on an immigrant visa in the states. I had to deal with all this crap while stationed on Okinawa. Bottom line is the US government cannot restrtict and/or force a citizen of Japan to do anything. All they can do is apply pressure on the military/local couple by threating to take away things liek base access and command sponsorship.
USNinJapan2 at 01:32 AM JST - 11th November

Squally

What exactly do you mean by an old hat? Sounds like you're the one that's not active and currently here and only eluding to experiences you had once upon a time...
Squally at 02:55 AM JST - 11th November

Ah here we go, a spouse qualifies as a dependent and a dependent qualifies as SOFA sponsored, yes. However, Article XVII section 4 states that: "The foregoing provisions of this Article shall not imply any right for the military authorities of the United States to exercise jurisdiction over persons who are nationals of or ordinarily resident in Japan, unless they are members of the United States armed forces.".

http://www.niraikanai.wwma.net/pages/archive/sofa.html

With that being said, command trying to do something like restrict a local to base is wrong and goes against SOFA and their basic rights as a Japanese citizen. Is a local spouse SOFA? Technically yes because the SOFA agreement doesn't address what a local spouse falls under. Yet at the same time, a local spouse isn't SOFA because they don't need a visa to reside in Japan. Either way, command cannot restrict a local spouse in their own country. They can take away the members command sponsorship and restrict base access for a local spouse, which is a dirty little trick they try to use when situations like the lock down during the Hadnott case arose. Fortunately, they're little attempt to circumvent a local spouse's fundamental rights as a citizen of Japan failed after less then a week IIRC.

My "old hat" response is a term I use for "crusty" military members who have been in a bit too long and take themselves a little too seriously. They tend to be the one's who think that the military can control EVERY aspect of a service members life, including their dependents. When in some circumstances the military really can't do something like restrict a foreign spouse to base in their own country. Are you really a "old hat"? Maybe not, but you're coming off as one with your "Oh the military can tell your spouse what to do" mentality.

FYI, I am active and am just speaking from past experiences. Do plan on retiring in Okinawa if everything works out. Ah the halcyon days of being a civilian and telling the military to "shove it" tempts me whenever it's time to reenlist:)
b30sayaka at 09:46 AM JST - 12th November

It's always not fair that U.S. millitary seize a offender. also, he's living near my place as you think, I'm really shoked and scared to live in the place where a sinner live. I know he is young and he might be panniced but how come to forget humanity. he could help the old man... how pity he is.
Squally at 07:34 AM JST - 13th November

Except that the military has stated that they are ready hand the guy over to the Japanese authorities if they request it. So saying that it's "not fair" that the US military currently has him in custody is BS.