martyman comments

@ Yuritani, Great comment on why crimes committed by locals do not make the news. Only high profile cases, celebrity's or japanese public servants make the headlines. But your comment on the US military carrying weapons is off its mark. It is like saying all Japanese people are dangerous because they all know Karate. The majority of military folks only touch a weapon once a year to maintain proficiency. Japanese Police carry their weapons everyday. Other than that, no US service members have access to weapons unless it is part of their job to carry it daily i.e. M.P.s or security forces.

Also, nice link to Korean forces Army court martial page. This is a great reminder that the punishment is bound to the individual and not to rest of the armed forces in the area.

What is the Japanese punishment for public indecency? Is it the same for Obasan and Ojisan urinating on the side of the road, or is it stricter in a internet cafe?

Ho humm, only a year and a half to figure this case out. Still RIP to Mrs Yamagata.

Not to be bias on this story, or the endorse the actions of these service members, but when Rome, do as the Romans do. At a bonenkai a few years ago in a local Izakaya, A group of Okinawan folks celebrating got a bit carried away when one of the members decided to get naked. The owner spoke to them and then apologized to the other customers, No police were called and everyone continued to celebrate.

As far as the DUI, no excuses there, bad judgement in a bad time for service members, but wasn't Okinawa known for having the highest DUI rates in Japan?

Even in Japan, men in uniform top the media stories about misbehaving. Are the riot cops known for being out of control when they are off-duty to blow off steam from a hard days work?

@chooch, I read what you are saying, does this also go for foreigners or military that are in involved with honest mistakes? This driver admitted to running the red light and I think he also admitted to driving on the sidewalk to miss other cars when he struck and killed the two children and put the grand parents in the hospital.

What kind of drivers education does japan have to teach vehicle operators to run people over instead of stopping at a red light or hitting another vehicle? Or was part of his plan was to continue to Kawasaki with his two friends not worrying about traffic regulations?

@caps1 Are you serious? From your comment on Japanese drivers and bad habits, obviously you have never driven in Japan. The unwritten two to three car rule to run red lights and not pulling over immediately for emergency vehicles, etc. I have lived in Japan and Okinawa since 1999 and can honestly say that driving habits here do not follow any norm depending on how much of a hurry you are in or how deep your pockets are to pay gomen money after being in accidents like this on in 2010.

Not to open an old story, but what is the punishment for minors that are out after their curfew that commit crimes such as murder or assault? It would seem these spineless murderers would be made an example of to all other Japanese punks committing the same acts against defenseless senior citizens.

@Pattie, the parent could of taped up all the doors and crawled into the drivers window. Then closed it behind him/her before lighting the hibachi. The story lacks to much information to add in another psychotic person that would of helped the family murder-suicide event.

Another sad day in Japan with another delusion set of parents. RIP to the children on this incident. Next article should have the family's name listed and where they were living before the incident. Key word on this story is murder, you do not know who you can trust that may put harm to your family. Just think if the parents were taking care of some other family's children and decided to murder them also!

Kind of an interesting statement in the article" The resolution also called for a review of legal procedures for military suspects". It seems like the last few incidents have followed the Japanese laws with no big issues. No one fleeing the country or being shielded by the bases, the Japanese legal system has been able to serve justice to these folks as it would to their own people.

Judicial court or public defenders, this story adds to the truth of the effectiveness of making statements and the way they are interpreted for a high conviction rate of foreigners.

@chooch You would think criminals would be on the lowest rung of society not the homeless. There is a difference between homeless having societal challenges and psychopathic criminals preying on the weak.

Kind of a useless article to be discussing, the peoples vote does not count toward the election of the president. The Electorial college votes are the ones that chooses our presidents. The members of the electorial college do not have to voice the peoples choice by voting Republican, democrat, etc.,they have the power to vote anyway they want. It is directly reflected in this years election that they did this as it happened the same way when Bush was elected.

@WillB

Very fishy circumstances, a 70 year old man with bruises around his eyes and throat slashed with money in his pocket. Not your everyday alleged murder crime scene here. More to follow on upcoming JT blogs.

@titaniumdioxide

Exactly, the age of the criminals makes a big difference almost regardless of the circumstances. Unless they are all deemed to have some type of mental illness.

Either way, spineless is the only word I can think of to describe them. If they are caught, the profiling of these punks may be the typical abusive alcoholic parents that gave them no love as they grew up which led them to a life of being mean and no one to show them right from wrong. Or there parents may have the same personality and they are mimicking the same behavior.

@thomas, remorse only works if you are Japanese,

@globewatcher, interpreters are provided by the police dept which are already biased in the case either guilty or innocent as per the interrogators guidance during questioning.

Rip for Tomimatsu-san. I hope there will be no protests in Osaka against the youths that have no regrets of their actions in these beatings. I wish the best of luck to the Japanese police can track down these spineless individuals involved with these crimes before any other homeless people are violated. The article mentions youths. Is this considered anyone under the age of 21? Or some other age group that is not considered adults? Was there alcohol involved or straight up hate crimes against their own people? Too many questions not answered in this article except for the name of the deceased.

No real story here. yawn...

Very interesting set of responses to this story. Very unfortunate set of events that have occurred. Let the JP's complete their investigations, find out the real story, then punish the airmen under Japanese law. After he has served whatever sentence deemed good enough for a Japanese person doing the same crime, his unit will punish him by probably giving him a other than honorable discharge for disobeying a lawful order breaking curfew. One thing to say is that he wasn't wearing his military uniform while he was out drinking. The air force policy to allow their service members to go to restaurants and go shopping in cammies disturbs the locals and goes against any kind of anti-terrorism training to blend in with the local populace.

@ voice of Okinawa Oct. 06, 2012 - 11:48PM JST

True, there maybe only 175 Ginowan people that work on Futenma, but that is a small number in comparison to the 100's of business in Ginowan that have partially rely on U.S. associated customers that come from Futenma that eat at the restaurant, shop at the stores, buy cars, get JCI's, etc.. The other numbers benefiting not included is the business's that have or had contracts to perform services on Futenma or other bases. I am not trying to counter your post, but putting things more in perspective.

You mention 5% revenues, for practical purposes, that is actually a very big percentage for any area. If it was a fraction of a percent, that would be a different story. The private company owners and employees that attended the rally did so because of the culture of the proud Okinawan's. They will participate in many events to show a unity of people. Unfortunately, these items are great items for another post, but are not relevant to the Kites and Ospreys topic

Ringside, the freedom of speech the Okinawans have is priceless. Do you think in North Korea or in China protestors would be handled as kindly as they are being treated at Futenma? I believe everyone thinks the same way that there are no accidents involving the Ospreys. But as everyone knows, we don't know the future. A commercial airliner or JSDAF jet coming into Naha airport may have a crash into the industrial area east of the run way injuring 100's. Is there going to be a protest to move the Japanese military or commercial airport? No One knows the future.

Didn't the land owners of Futenma base just negotiate for higher lease payments on their land? I think they may be benefiting from the protests from behind the scenes. Maybe off topic a bit, but true Okinawa has gone through some changes and survived or benefited from them.

@ringside, sorry late post. Pretty interesting items you are bringing up in your last few posts. I have lived in Okinawa 11 years and mainland for four years. My wife is Okinawan and I do interact with the locals a lot. I have seen a lot of interesting things happen over the years and fully respect everyone's freedom of speech. You mentioned China and the Ospreys. Directly there is no real connection, but indirectly there is a lot going on. With the issues China is having with Japan and their way of adding to their political conversations anything that will show Japan is still a violent country (some actions of the protestors at Futenma) against foreigners. The big picture relates to the situations that happened in between 1935 and 1945 with the Japanese occupation in China and how any small item happening in Japan against Japan is fuel for them to use to steer any negotiations to their advantage.

Going back to the original topic with the Ospreys and Hiroji Yamashiro. Wasn't he the same person that went to Guam in 2007 to persuade the Chamorros to turn the US Marines away and that his movement's goal is to get all American bases out of Japan. I am not sure but a person leading the Members of the Forum for Peace, Human Rights and Environment had the same name and persistent attitude against the US military/equipment.

@saidani, this is true, credibility is a major concern for everyone.

All I can say is Wow! Reading all the posts on the protests, kite flying, and other off topic remarks. A few things are not mentioned about Yamishiro and his followers is they have also released balloons, and others have been using lasers to distract the pilots at the same park. Protesting is one thing, but putting the pilot and local people lives in danger is totally a step beyond in protesting.

Looking at the international view point, it is funny how the protestors doing these things are making China and North Korea happy. Happy meaning that the less control the local governments have over potentially dangerous acts on their own people is just another win on their complaints against the Japanese people. Watching the news about the protestors biting the Japanese security at the protests probably had them laughing at Okinawa people.

I am all for the Okinawan's to protest, but I ask them to look at the big picture and act accordingly.

@Yubaru, after first glance of this story, the first thought from my mind was the son collecting on the pension. The story does not say it directly, but I suspect the 44 year old Shibata was living at home with Mother and did not want to leave the easy living. Either way, RIP to the mother. It is not an honorable way to be remembered to be stuffed into a vacuum staorage bag instead of a family tomb.

@ TMarie As stated, no one knows why she did it, but more times at the trial to find out if they are guilty or crazy, the defense tries to tie traumatic times of life to current situations to get a lighter sentence. Also, in all the posts on JT, most stories of women killing their children either physical or through neglect have been in their 20's and 30's. Fact, most have had a lame excuse that like their children were at fault or they just didn't want to be a parent any more, or better yet, their boyfriend didn't want to have children. The results are all the same, a helpless child losses their life and no one really knows why they did it. This also goes for fathers, stepfathers, or male companions that have decided to shorten the life of the helpless children. Needless events that make the news. RIP to all that have been the victims of these unstable criminals. (yes, I said criminals not parents)

It is stories like these that upset folks a lot.

RIP to the four year old child.

He was murdered by his mother for being a child. I am worried about how the younger sibling has been treated by the mother and do not understand how her "partner" did not get involved to stop any abuse that may have happened in their presence. Until the investigation is complete, no one will know the story or the background. Most times abusive mothers like this one had been abused as a child, the only way to cope with situations is to emulate the parents. Other issues may be having a child after the magic 30 year old mark. Are they ready to make the commitment as a parent after 34 years of being independent? No one knows.

One thing for sure is this woman is not a suitable parent to raise her own children without extreme supervision 24 hours a day. It could of been worse, she could of had a job at a day care/pre-school and abused other children that wet their pants. Something to think about in the big picture of things.

I feel bad for the girls that have to put up with the abuse of these fiends. All I can say is let one of this deviants come to where I live and get caught doing this. I am pretty sure he will find himself/themselves in a whole new world of surprise. I am not saying anything violent will happen, but apprehension by the JP's may be there best choice.

Almost sounds like the folks fighting this may have something to hide with their personal life and are afraid they may have the honor to wear the GPS device. But even so, if not the GPS, then make it simple, tattoo them for each crime committed. Use the three strikes law like some of the US states have established to make sure their is no confusion on their prior crimes they committed.

Public place and silly people, their bad habits will eventually get someone injured or killed. Texting while driving or waking is You tube worthy at all times.

This young boy is lucky to be able to recover from this hit and run incident. I am hoping more of this story comes out to explain the circumstances.

At 7 am there is plenty of sun light to be able to see what is on the road and be able to maneuver around to not hit them. When the J-cops get through with checking his cell phone activity and probe more on where he was coming from, they will eventually get the whole story. If it is alcohol related, you definitely know the bar he could of been at will not come forward saying he left drunk due to the Japanese DUI laws. If it was due to driver distraction either from fatigue, texting, watching a movie, etc, he will probably get a slap on the wrist. And worst scenario, if he was an angry driver that decided to go on the driver rampage to hit folks, he would probably say he has a mental problem.

Any reason listed above or other thoughts, he should be considered guilty for knowingly hitting someone then fleeing the seen. What next, gomen payment and a fake gomenasai speech to the family to lessen his punishment as a dangerous driver?