Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on November 6 that Japan will expand education for US military personnel stationed in Okinawa, in response to the robbery and murder of a Marine in Naha. The government will take part in the program and incorporate the prefecture's views, he told a press conference.
Briefings for US military personnel arriving in Okinawa will be updated to draw further on input from the prefectural government, the Foreign Ministry said. To make Japanese law better known, the ministry's ambassador in charge of Okinawa will give lectures alongside prefectural police officers.
"It is important to take measures that are effective in preventing incidents from occurring," Motegi said. "We want to continue discussions between Japan and the US."
Status-of-forces agreement under scrutiny
The measures stop short of changes to the status-of-forces agreement, the pact governing how US personnel are treated under Japanese law. Fukushima Mizuho of the Social Democratic Party called for Article 17 of the agreement to be revised, saying it "encourages crimes by US military personnel." Motegi said he did not believe the article was causing problems.
A US military "reflection period" imposed after the case ends on the eighth, with restrictions on off-base movement for lower-ranking personnel to continue under new measures and a ban on drinking for all personnel, according to reports.