Bullet found lodged in car license plate near Marine base in Okinawa

Monday 15th December, 08:48 AM JST

NAHA —

A bullet was found lodged in a car license plate on Saturday night, and police are investigating if the bullet came from live firing exercises at nearby U.S. Marine base Camp Hansen last Wednesday.

The owner of the car told police he was outside watering the plants in his garden last Wednesday, when he heard loud noises and saw smoke in the air at the nearby training range, and also said he could hear training drills.

The bullet was about 4.5 centimeters in length and appears to have come from a rifle. Police are having the bullet examined.

ANN

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Latest 15 of 20 Total Comments Show All

Altria at 10:27 AM JST - 15th December

Why are the US army shooting at cars?
TheguyNextdoor at 10:46 AM JST - 15th December

Xeno23- LOL........
soldave at 10:55 AM JST - 15th December

likeitis - Do you remember the case a few years back when an Okinawan farmer near a training range was complaining that he found a 50 calibre shell in his field. There was a huge outcry about how dangerous the US military was. The military did testing on every 50 calibre barrel (sp?) on their bases in Okinawa. When they determined that it hadn't come from their rifles the farmer admitted that he'd bought the shell at an army surplus store in Okinawa, and then had claimed it had been fired into his field.

The last part of the story wasn't reported so widely, as you can probably imagine.
Xeno23 at 10:58 AM JST - 15th December

Anyway, I'm guessing we'll never hear teh final word on this story. That bullet might as well have come from the space station for all we'll ever know.

Was the car a Toyota or Nissan or etc.? Could be a plot by GM & Co. Get the US Army to bail them out...
fatloser at 11:18 AM JST - 15th December

I suspect that it was hammered into the license plate by an instigator.
Samuraiiki at 11:28 AM JST - 15th December

It seems that Okinawans are not happy unless they have some to complain about the US bases. In fact, there is money available for compensation in cases where SOFA personnel or incidents are involved. But the sad story is that similar situations not related to the bases would never make it to the Mainland Japanese newspapers. Every case of embelezment in the Mainland shows up in the Japanese media. But I never see any of the cases from Okinawa appear in Japanese TV or newspapers. News are too partial and one-sided.
soldave at 12:51 PM JST - 15th December

If it's fron the space station I'm sure we'll know about it. I'm sure some tabloid-headline along the lines of "US warhead from space strikes Okinawa vehicle" would be forthcoming.

The fact that Okinawan police are "examining" the bullet just makes me smile. Okinawan CSI standing around looking at the bullet going, "sou desu neeeee".
Mookoo at 05:17 PM JST - 15th December

Japanese news reports claim there are some incidents of stray bullets landing outside the fence from time to time, and that the night exercises are so noisy it makes it impossible for area residents to sleep.
Pacifist at 05:32 PM JST - 15th December

Stray bullet or not, it is time for the U.S. military to pick up their bat and ball and go home. It is only a matter of time before a major incident claims lives of the local people. The Okinawan people are remarkably forgiving under the circumstances.
sharky1 at 05:58 PM JST - 15th December

I heard it turned out to be a fishing sinker
martyman at 06:05 PM JST - 15th December

From watering your plants to finding a bullet lodged in your license plate, the stress must be unbearable. There will probably a follow-up story tomorrow saying the car was involved in something illegal near the firing ranges. Lucky it wasn't near one of the JSDF ranges.
Mookoo at 07:03 PM JST - 15th December

According to the Japanese news, granny was out in the parking lot doing something or other Wednesday afternoon, and hears a loud noise. Looks over to where the sound came from, and sees a bit of smoke at the back of son's car. Son checks the car Saturday morning (no explanation of the time gap), and finds a hole in his license plate. Takes it off, and finds a bullet lodged behind. Calls cops later that day...and here we are.
likeitis at 09:06 AM JST - 16th December

Do you remember the case a few years back when an Okinawan farmer near a training range was complaining that he found a 50 calibre shell in his field.

No, but shells laying around ain't bullets lodged in cars. If people got so upset about shells, they are stupid.

The last part of the story wasn't reported so widely, as you can probably imagine.

I sure can. I know the U.S. military is not always treated fairly by certain Okinawans, and that in some ways a persecution complex is justified, but this is a bullet lodged in a car. Anyone would be concerned about that and all leads now point to the U.S. military.

The best play here is to remind people of the story of the farmer and the shell and leave it at that until more evidence is found. It shows that some people just have it in for the bases.
Mookoo at 04:11 PM JST - 16th December

These incidents have been ongoing since the American occupation. Please see this website for a list.

http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/listofcrimes.htm
Mookoo at 04:23 PM JST - 16th December

We have a stray bullet incident in the Igei area in the Town of Kin. We have several similar incidents in the same area of the same town, and even more incidents like this happening all over Okinawa. I link to a list of these incidents, and it's off-topic? This shows a pattern of accidents and crimes on the part of the US military. It is quite logical to conclude that the current incident is the latest one in a long string of them. Evidence supporting that theory is surely relevant to the discussion.