Hi there! I'm here to inform everyone who's interested in listening about a recent development in Japan.

I myself live in Japan, and usually hang around the Japanese DRRR! Dollars board, but I felt like most overseas users that use this site should be informed.

BACKGROUND CHECK:
- In Okinawa Japan, a small island that, despite belonging to the Japanese currently, is inhabited by a large amount of Americans. Why? Well, the Japanese and American Governments have decided that, for safety, the Americans can set up several military bases on the small island.

THE "NEWS":
- Many of you may not know, and some of you might, but recently, a Japanese woman was murdered by an American civilian, who was a part of the military. There's a large amount of Japanese who believe that the Americans should stop with their military presence in Okinawa. Most of the Japanese don't mind, however.

With the recent murder, the Japanese who protest the American Military presence, have even more reason to be upset, with good reason. However, most, not all, but most of the protesters are extremely simple minded and think all Americans are fat lazy assholes who just want to kill the Japanese. Which, as most of you know, is NOT the case.

WHAT CAN WE DO?:
- Remember, we're the Dollars. We have to try to solve issues, even if we didn't cause them. This is a huge event, and if we band together, we can make small changes.

If you live in Okinawa, you can help by being just a...nice person. Really. Believe it or not, the protesters can't have any dirt on the Americans if they're being kind to them. So, just be nice. This is a given, though.

If you don't live in Okinawa: Just spread the word! This event barely got any attention outside of Japan, and my close friends living in America didn't have any idea until I told them about it.

We can't do too much, but we can try, can't we?

OP here! Just wanted to provide you with some more links if you want to study up:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/21/national/crime-legal/okinawa-suspect-allegedly-admits-rape-woman-killing/#.V48adlR96Ul

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/20/asia/us-military-base-protests-okinawa/

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/marine-charged-rape-murder-okinawa-woman-160630080538403.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/19/thousands-protest-at-us-bases-on-okinawa-after-japanese-womans

Well, I don't live in Japan but from what I have read (only the gaurdian article). It would seem that the US having bases at Okinawa and nearby have already caused problems and conflicts before. If it's already been proven that crimes will continue to arise as the bases are allowed to stay put, shouldn't they just be removed?
I know that US bases are supposed buffers to help Japan in the case that China or Korea turn aggressive. But the Japanese aren't exactly the most vulnerable of states as according to globalfirepower.com, Japan is ranked 7th most powerful based on resources alone. I'm sure that Japan's arms are also more high-tech and effective (assumption). While US would provide a great ally and it would be good for them to be nearby to help immediately when the need arises. I believe that Japan would at least be able to hold out in the case of emergency if China (3rd in terms of globalfirepower) or North Korea (25th in terms of global firepower) indeed do turn aggressive.

Basically, I'm saying that the protests are not without reason and the bases being removed may not be that bad an idea. I'm not saying all Americans are bad or anything like that but with more people, there is generally a higher risk of crimes such as these. Also, you know how sometimes being too close or living too near someone even if he/she is a good friend of yours, after a while you grow sick of each other somewhat?
From this perspective, the US and Japan may actually be able to maintain a better relationship if they kept to their own boundaries and only cross borders to help the other country in times of need.

Well this is just my opinion on the matter, i'm not saying we shouldn't be nice or anything but you know, just food for thought.

P.S. I welcome any rebuttals because I know from past experiences that what I say tend to have lots of loopholes since i do not think too much when typing.

>>4
The main purpose for the presence of US in Japan is not to back Japan up in case of emergencies, it's more like a display of power. Policing, if you will. They're there to remind Japan that it lost the world war and is under the mercy of America.

Well, this can as easily be dismissed as a conspiracy theory though.

>>5 oh i didn't know that. What i said is mainly based off the gaurdian article so yeah. But if that is indeed true, I'd say that America should get out of Japan's territory and stop exerting control over them through fear. That's no way to maintain friendly ties with each other. Ruling through fear only will result in more unrests such as this and could cause more trouble than if they played nice with Japan and give them no reason to do any wrong to the other countries.

>>6
Why do you think Americans love mutts?
They want to dominate and feel superior. I don't see that attitude changing anytime soon.
Although in America's defense, the Japanese did wage war on every other country in the past. They're not too friendly. Not even in the hetalia fanfic.

>>7 that may have been the case after WW2 like for 30 years to make sure Japan dose not try something again, but is now more of a support fast strike base if North Korea dose something, in fact most Japanese on the island of Okinawa don't care about the base too much as they get along with the Americans who live there.

There has been some talk about the American base being moved somewhere else or not even having one station in Japan.

fyi Japan is not the only country to have an American base i,e here in England we have one or two American bases does that also mean we are under USA thumb no, there are likely other countries in the EU that also have American bases dotted about the place, also again the base on Okinawa was part of the peace deal after Japan surrendered in WW2 which likely has a time limit when USA moves out.

As someone who served in the U.S. armed forces before I can say that the stations in the pacific are there for defensive purposes not just to protect or support the JSDF. The bases in Japan are support points for the entire pacific region from the Philippines to Hawaii. Within an hour of getting an order the U.S. can strike any target in Asia with extreme prejudice, I'm not trying to boast the military and if it sounds like I am I apologize. However our mission does not excuse the actions of vagrant individuals in the military who sully the uniform they wear by doing these vulgar actions. A single person's actions doesn't represent the military community as a whole but, it stil doesn't excuse the actions

See this is why America needs one big therapist.

thank you for the news in other parts of the world

Actually, the bases are there because of WWII. Even after all the other countries fighting on Germany's side surrendered, the Japanese didn't. Stubborn people, and I mean that in the best of ways. :) But the idea was that America did find them to be dangerous. Understandably after Pearl Harbor, but to be fair, we caused the bombing on Hiroshima, so take all that however you want. Crazy shit happens during wartime on all sides. Anyway, the agreement was that we would put our military people over there to defend them because we made them agree to never have their own army again. Obviously, that has changed, they have been slowly getting control of their own country back. I don't know if the purpose has changed over time along with it or not. And the newer generation, as far as my personal experience goes, seems to want us to get out of there, it just isn't a big enough issue on our end to talk about much. My grandmother was against anything Japanese because she was alive during the hype, but I think the coming generations realize how excessive it all is. It's not a display of power, it's the result of a paranoia that is, as far as I know in my limited experience, dying off.

Thanks for the info, BTW. I knew tensions have existed over there ever since we built the base, but I didn't hear about these instances. I'll make sure to spread it more so people know it's a bigger issue.

.

Do something japan!

Such tragedies happen all around the world. That's pretty shocking,I know. But we have to live on. The only thing we can do, is uncover what really happened and trying to prevent such events

O my God...

That's terrible, I feel bad for her family.

I wonder how the situation will turn out - I hope it doesn't escalate into some kind of conflict. As far as I know, the Japanese have all kinds of problems on Okinawa, from people having their homes bought out for bases to soldiers causing problems.

The US military needs to send some sort of formal apology and properly compensate her family. Then they need to send his ass to prison.

The military here really is too lenient with their soldiers. They think they can get away with all kinds of crap just because they're practically worshipped here. It's NOT like Japan is a hostile nation. His crime was disgusting and uncalled for.

Awesome!!

>>22

which part?

I agree that the soldier should be go to jail. Just because he is a soldier doesn't mean he can get off easy. It's not fair to the victims and her family.

I heard that the man is now an ex-marine but i don't know if he went to jail or not

I'm from North America and I do say that the man should indeed go to jail for murder, it doesn't matter who was killed or even that the peoples gender, race, color, etc. should effect this at all.

Here's a little something. Americans are general garbage. This is coming from an american who lives in the pit sweat of america. We are SHITTY people. We do mostly wrong out of our entire population in our sovereign fifty states as well as our bases around the world. We are assholes but those in the military can be even more so. They feel better than those around them. They assert dominance by using violence. I know the Japanese people who are of logical and fair mind think otherwise, but those stereotypes that the Japanese as well as many other asian cultures put on americans is very true. Our people are mean and completely psychotic. I do not like my country, I barely support any of our militaristic actions.... I just want those foreign to me and those who have us in your country to please play it safe around Americans. We're one of the worst groups of people. But not the absolute worst. Just.. we house a lot of individual crazy people. Please look out for one another and please pray for the family of the Japanese woman who lost her life at the hands of an American in her own country.