2nd Japan-US Forum: Don’t Create Alibis

For a second time, the Okinawa Community Partnership Forum (the Japan-U.S. Forum) was held. It is a conference aimed at curbing crimes by people affiliated with the U.S. military. It merely confirmed that Japan and the U.S. will investigate measures to effectively prevent recurring crime, but didn’t reach the point of working out a concrete plan.

Prefectural residents want drastic steps to deter crime, and reliable implementation of a plan. Has the forum already been reduced to a mere formality? The only way to describe it is to call it a place where U.S. military crimes are simply highlighted.

Recently, there have been incidents of sexual violence against female victims. It must be said that the lack of action from both the U.S. and Japanese governments allowed this to happen.

The meeting was closed to the public. Although both the U.S. and Japan confirmed that it happened, the results are scanty.

This time, the prefecture brought up the trend of an increasing number of crimes committed by U.S. military members, presenting analytical data on the increase in military crime. Based on the data, they affirmed their intention to research concrete initiatives to address the problem.

It was decided that the Okinawa Orientation Overview, which is offered to U.S. military personnel who are taking up new posts in Okinawa, will be revised. The U.S. military announced the revisions during the first meeting in May of last year. The revisions incorporate guidelines and punishments for drunk driving, as the prefecture requested, and content that includes an increased number of examples and descriptions of sex crimes committed by U.S. military personnel.

Following a succession of biting incidents outside of the military base after dogs kept by U.S. military personnel escaped, Japan and the U.S. shared information about regulations for keeping pets. Also confirmed were support measures that Japanese spouses can use in situations where trouble develops between them and their U.S. military personnel partners.

All of this is limited to confirmations of present conditions and existing content updates, which are nothing new. Regarding joint U.S.-Japanese patrols in Okinawa City to enforce these measures outside of military bases, it was agreed that the patrols would continue to gain an understanding of the local residents, but their effectiveness hasn't been substantiated so far.

The U.S. military announced the establishment of the Japan-U.S. Forum in July 2024, after a series of sex crimes committed by military personnel, but it took 10 months before the first meeting was held. Heading into the meeting with the prefecture, it was clear that the U.S. military indicated reluctance to discuss verification of the effectiveness of crime deterrence measures. The U.S. military showed concern that only crime prevention steps for U.S. military personnel would be covered.

Regarding incident and accident prevention, up to now, the U.S. military also had the Cooperative Working Team, a group of U.S. military personnel and civilians working for the military who collaborated to prevent accidents and trouble. The forum is said to be in place as a substantial successor to the group. The most recent CWT meeting was in 2017. In the past, there was also a council composed of the triple combination of the prefecture of Okinawa, the Japanese government and U.S. personnel stationed in Okinawa, but that has come to an end.

There have been other, similar councils, but they have repeatedly been replaced with other groups, without working out any effective strategies.

In principle, the forum would be held every year, but it must not become a place for creating alibis. In order to hammer out effective steps, discussion that gets to the core issues is necessary. The level of serious commitment from the U.S. and Japan to prevent any more U.S. military crime is in doubt.